It's hard to pin down Hollywood's benefit to Virginia

The governor estimates that a pilot TV drama set at the Norfolk Naval Station could generate $50 million for Hampton Roads should the show go into serial production. We can't verify that number.

By Sean Gorman :: Published on Monday, March 25th, 2013 at 11:48 a.m.

McDonnell didn't promise to win battles with the General Assembly

So far, we’ve assessed the governor’s follow through on 39 campaign pledges and have rated 18 of them as a Promise Kept. One reason for good marks is that McDonnell often qualified his promises that required cooperation from the General Assembly.

By Sean Gorman :: Published on Wednesday, January 16th, 2013 at 11:07 a.m.

Tracking McDonnell's campaign promises

The Bob-O-Meter tracks 48 promises that Gov. Bob McDonnell made during his 2009 gubernatorial campaign. Of the 38 that so far have been rated, we've found that nearly half -- 17 -- have been fulfilled and earned a Promise Kept. Three were judged to be a Promise Broken. The rest of the pledges have either resulted in Compromise, been Stalled by events or are rated In the Works as McDonnell begins his last year in office.

By Nancy Madsen :: Published on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013 at 01:29 p.m.

Do GOP governors create more jobs than Democrats?

Gov. Bob McDonnell's mathematical proof doesn't always hold up.

By Sean Gorman :: Published on Tuesday, September 11th, 2012 at 06:00 p.m.

A look at McDonnell's convention speech:

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell made many jobs claims during his speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa on Tuesday night. Some were familiar to PolitiFact Virginia.

By Sean Gorman, Nancy Madsen :: Published on Wednesday, August 29th, 2012 at 10:24 a.m.

Truth-O-Meter unstoppable amid GOP convention shutdown

Hurricane Isaac may have shut down the Republican National Convention on Monday. But the Truth-O-Meter was unstoppable. PolitiFact arrived in Tampa just as former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist made a surprise endorsement of President Barack Obama in The Tampa Bay Times. He served as governor as a Republican, then ran an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate as an independent. We completed two fact-checks that touched on Crist’s endorsement. Medicare remained a chief concern as the festivities began. Presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney accused Obama of hypocrisy, while his vice presidential pick, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, said the Romney-Ryan plan "does not affect" benefits for anyone 55 or older. Read these summaries of our findings below. Want to comment on our rulings? Go to our Facebook page or find us on Twitter. PolitiFact will provide daily Truth-O-Meter updates on the GOP before moving on to Charlotte next week to keep tabs on the Democrats.

By Willoughby Mariano :: Published on Tuesday, August 28th, 2012 at 06:00 a.m.

In Tampa, claims are flying

The Republican National Convention launched into full swing Tuesday. To start off, we fact-checked some claims by and about former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida.

By Molly Moorhead :: Published on Monday, August 27th, 2012 at 05:20 p.m.

Ad Watch: Claims about Romney's jobs record filled with half truths

PolitiFact has often noted that economists say governors have a small effect their state's economy. For better or worse, the same thing was true when Mitt Romney was governor of Massachusetts.  

By Sean Gorman, Louis Jacobson :: Published on Thursday, June 14th, 2012 at 11:23 a.m.

In Context: McDonnell denies his impending ad campaign

"Well, you know you can't believe everything you read in the papers," McDonnell said on MSNBC when asked about a report in The Washington Post that he planned to run TV ads in Virginia lauding his economic record.

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Thursday, April 26th, 2012 at 02:39 p.m.

The veep-stakes

With the question of who will be at the top of the Republican presidential ticket looking more and more settled, attention is turning to the No. 2 spot. Who will be the vice presidential pick?

By Martha M. Hamilton :: Published on Monday, April 9th, 2012 at 11:27 a.m.

Pre-abortion ultrasounds in Texas

A New York Times columnist's concerns about the new Texas law requiring a woman seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound reminded us of our check of a 2011 claim.

By W. Gardner Selby :: Published on Tuesday, March 6th, 2012 at 01:00 p.m.

Fact-checking the pension debate

PolitiFact Virginia has been closely following the debate over the ailing state pension. We thought this would be a good time to review our findings.  

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 at 03:57 p.m.

Introducing the Bob-O-Meter

We’re introducing the Bob-O-Meter, a service aimed at monitoring some 50 campaign promises by McDonnell. The Bob-O-Meter will report what progress, if any, has been made on each pledge and rate whether it’s been kept, broken, altered in a compromise, or in the works. Those ratings will be tallied on PolitiFactVirginia.com, creating an up-to-the-minute and evolving report card on McDonnell’s administration.

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Friday, September 16th, 2011 at 12:35 p.m.

The Bob-O-Meter is coming

We’ve calibrated it to monitor campaign promises Gov. Bob McDonnell made during his 2009 campaign and measure how well he is fulfilling them. 

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Tuesday, September 13th, 2011 at 01:57 p.m.

Rick Perry and the Texas economy

With Texas Gov. Rick Perry now running for president, we review our fact-checking on claims about jobs and the Texas economy.

By Bill Adair, Angie Drobnic Holan :: Published on Tuesday, August 16th, 2011 at 11:39 a.m.

Fact-checking claims about the Texas economy

With Texas Gov. Rick Perry now running for president, we review our fact-checking on claims about jobs and the Texas economy.

By Bill Adair, Angie Drobnic Holan :: Published on Tuesday, August 16th, 2011 at 07:03 a.m.

Taking the jobs-claim challenge

We found that none of the last seven Virginia governors has created jobs fast enough to keep up with working-age population growth. Of the nine governors dating back to 1978, only Democrat Chuck Robb met the standard set forth by McAuliffe. Robb led the state from 1982 to 1986.

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Tuesday, May 24th, 2011 at 01:24 p.m.

McDonnell-Axelrod dust-up beats up a few facts

But Axelrod was wrong when he said McDonnell balanced Virginia's budget by borrowing $3 billion against future federal transportation receipts. And McDonnell erred when he said "30 years after World War II, we cut the deficit every year."

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011 at 02:39 p.m.

`Pants on Fire' and other greetings from readers

"Enough of the Truth-o-Meter!!!" one reader emailed. "We get it already. If it's a bad thing said by or about a Republican, then it's the truth. If it's a bad thing said about a Democrat then it's a lie. We get it already." Conversely, a liberal blog accused us of going easy on Republicans,

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Tuesday, April 19th, 2011 at 02:08 p.m.

Senate race puts Truth-O-Meter in late-October mode

The Truth-O-Meter and the Flop-O-Meter went into late-October mode last week when former Gov. Tim Kaine announced he would run for the seat being vacated by fellow Democrat Jim Webb. Republican George Allen did not take it lightly.

By Warren Fiske :: Published on Tuesday, April 12th, 2011 at 01:03 p.m.