Fairfax Circuit Court Clerk John Frey has made his entry into the 2013 contest for the GOP Attorney General nomination official. From a press release;
“As Circuit Court Clerk of Virginia’s largest circuit court and one of the largest courts in the country, I have worked hard over the past twenty years to cut through red tape, eliminate bureaucracy and streamline the court system in Fairfax.” Frey said. “My office processes approximately 22,000 criminal and civil cases a year along with 200,000 separate land documents. My twenty years of experience working within this complex court system, I believe will allow me to bring a unique perspective to the office of Attorney General.”
Frey’s positioning is interesting. The other candidates in the race — Sen. Mark Obenshain and Del. Rob Bell, are sitting legislators. Frey makes it a point to say that he “…is the only Northern Virginia candidate and non-legislator in the race for Attorney General, at this time.”
Not necessarily a politician. A northern Virginian. And someone who has overseen a sizable bureaucracy: “Mr. Frey has a courthouse staff of 161 employees with a budget of over eleven million dollars.”
We’ll see whether these points strike a chord. Frey may be a known quantity in Fairfax, which cannot be dismissed. But elsewhere in the state, he’s a name on paper. He’s got plenty of time to change that.
