Richmond attorney announces bid for GOP AG nomination

(AP) – The fight over who gets to be the Republican nominee in the 2017 Virginia attorney general race is ramping up.

Richmond attorney John Adams told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he planned to announce his candidacy for the GOP nomination later in the day.
    
Adams’ candidacy marks the first serious challenge to Del. Rob Bell, who has been laying the foundation for his run for several years.
    
Adams runs the government investigations department at legal and lobbying powerhouse McGuireWoods.
    
He’s a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, a former naval officer and federal prosecutor who served as White House associate counsel to President George W. Bush and as a U.S. Supreme Court clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas.
    
A political neophyte, Adams said he’s received broad encouragement to run and said Republicans are eager for options.