Less than 24 hours after he was elected Virginia's 71st governor, McDonnell acknowledged that he will face tough economic times when he takes office Jan. 16.
"Tuesday's election "certainly creates a large majority there that gives me the ability to . . . get full cooperation to get a lot of things done in the House," McDonnell said during his first news conference as governor-elect.
"And then obviously the challenge is for me to get these solutions put together in a bipartisan fashion that we're able to get [them] through the Senate," he said.
McDonnell maintains that he expects to carry out the agenda he outlined during his campaign. And he insisted Wednesday that he will do so without raising taxes.
That agenda includes doubling the size of the Governor's Opportunity Fund, which is used to lure industry to Virginia; tax credits for job creation; merit pay for teachers; and transportation improvements.
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McDonnell Pledges to Govern as He Campaigned
His campaign was over, but governor-elect Bob McDonnell made another promise Wednesday as he began the transition from candidate to chief executive.
"I just want everybody in Virginia to know that I intend to govern the same way I campaigned," McDonnell said."I try to tell people in a detailed way what we intend to do, and now that it's time to govern, I want to go about the business of getting the results and accomplishing those goals."
"I intend to hold myself accountable for everything I said I was going to do," said McDonnell, who won 59 percent of the vote to defeat Democrat Creigh Deeds.
