Ed Gillespie

Ed Gillespie, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a Washington lobbyist, barely claimed the Republican nomination for governor of Virginia. This is Mr. Gillespie’s second bid for statewide office. In 2014, he ran unsuccessfully against Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat. It was not expected to be one of the marquee Senate races that year, but Mr. Gillespie gave Mr. Warner a scare, losing by less than a single point. Mr. Gillespie is a graduate of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He is married to the former Cathy Hay, who he met playing softball in the Capitol Hill League. They live in Fairfax County near historic Mount Vernon with their three children, John Patrick, Carrie and Mollie Brigid. Gillespie was Counselor to the President in the last 18 months of the Bush Administration. To accept the White House job in June 2007, Gillespie left his bipartisan public affairs firm Quinn Gillespie and Associates (QGA). A former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Gillespie in 2004 became the first GOP chairman in 80 years to preside over his party’s winning the White House, House and Senate. Gillespie was a long-time aide to former House Majority Leader Dick Armey.