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Jim Gilmore

James Stuart "Jim" Gilmore III (born October 6, 1949) is a Republican Party politician who served as Governor of Virginia and Chairman of the Republican National Committee. He is a declared candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

Gilmore was born in Richmond, Virginia to Margaret Evelyn Kandle and James Stuart Gilmore, Jr., a grocery store meat cutter. He graduated from John Randolph Tucker High School and received an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia in 1971. After a three-year tour as a U.S. Army counterintelligence agent in West Germany, he entered the University of Virginia Law School, graduating in 1977. After working for a decade as a lawyer at the firm Benedetti, Gilmore, Warthen and Dalton, he was elected Commonwealth's Attorney in his home county of Henrico County in 1987 and 1991. He was elected Attorney General in 1993  and Governor in 1997. Gilmore served as the Chairman of the Republican National Committee from January 2001 to January 2002, and is currently a partner with the law firm Kelley Drye & Warren. He and his wife, Roxane Gatling Gilmore, currently reside in Richmond and Alexandria, Virginia. They have two sons, Jay and Ashton.

Gilmore was elected Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1997. Gilmore campaigned heavily on the twin promises of hiring 4,000 new teachers in public schools and phasing out Virginia's car tax. According to the Washington Post, "Virginia's politicians struggled to balance car-tax relief against demands for public services." Beginning in 2001, Virginia's economy slowed and tax revenues flattened. In addition to a downturn in the national economy in 2001, Northern Virginia's economy was severely slowed after the  flew a hijacked airplane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on September 11, 2001, resulting in the closure of Reagan National Airport for several months. Despite the economic downturn, Gilmore insisted on advancing the car tax phase out from a 50% reduction of each taxpayer's bill to a 70% reduction.

Gilmore also implemented new Standards of Learning reforms in Virginia's public schools. The Standards of Learning prescribed a uniform curriculum in math, science, English and social studies and instituted new tests at the end of the third, fifth and eighth grades, as well as end-of-course tests in high school, to measure student achievement. During Gilmore's term, Virginia's public school students' scores increased on these state tests as well as nationally normed tests.

Gilmore created the nation's first state Secretary of Technology, a position first held by Donald Upson. Together they established a statewide technology commission, and signed into law the nation's first comprehensive state Internet policy.

During his term, Gilmore chaired the Congressional Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce. The Commission was charged with the task of making recommendations to the United States Congress on Internet taxation, and it ultimately opposed taxation of the Internet.

During his term, 37 people were executed in Virginia. Gilmore granted executive clemency to one death row inmate on the basis of mental illness. He pardoned death row inmate Earl Washington after DNA tests, ordered by Gilmore, implicated another person. Gilmore also ordered DNA tests in the case of Derek Rocco Barnabei; the tests confirmed Barnabei's guilt and he was executed.

As Governor, Gilmore signed into law legislation establishing a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking an abortion, as well as a ban against partial birth abortion and increased funding for adoption services. He also signed into law a bill that banned human cloning. In 1999, Gilmore went to court to try to prevent the removal of a feeding tube of coma victim Hugh Finn.

Gilmore was succeeded by Democrat Mark Warner in 2002. The Virginia Constitution forbids any Governor from serving consecutive terms, so Gilmore could not have run for a second term in 2001.

From 1999 to 2003, Gilmore chaired the Congressional Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction, nicknamed the Gilmore Commission. It presented five reports to Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and to Congress each December 15 from 1999 through 2003.

Gilmore currently serves as Chairman of the National Council on Readiness & Preparedness, a homeland security program focused on community involvement and public/private partnerships. Gilmore also serves as President of USA Secure, a non-profit homeland security think tank based in Washington, D.C.

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