Cuccinelli has settled on a blanket no-pledge policy for the campaign. Cuccinelli won't sign no-tax oath

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli will not sign the famed Americans for Tax Reform pledge against raising taxes, his campaign told POLITICO – a surprise move for a gubernatorial candidate known for his down-the-line conservatism.

The presumptive Republican nominee for governor indicated in a private meeting with business leaders in Tuesday that he is not inclined to take the no-tax oath, sources said.


Cuccinelli’s campaign confirmed he will not sign the ATR pledge and explained Cuccinelli has settled on a blanket no-pledge policy for the campaign: he will not sign make any similar commitments to other special interest groups.

A Cuccinelli spokesman said the decision not to adopt the ATR pledge – which is closely associated with the group’s president, Grover Norquist – shouldn’t be taken as a sign he plans to raise taxes.

“Ken Cuccinelli agrees with the principles of Americans for Tax Reform and keeping taxes low. However, it’s our policy to not sign campaign pledges,” said Jahan Wilcox, communications director for the Cuccinelli campaign.

That’s the same message Cuccinelli conveyed to Northern Virginia executives at the closed-door session Tuesday evening, according to one attendee.

“He clarified that he wasn’t signing any pledges,” the source said. “He was committed to not raising taxes, but he’s not going to sign any pledge.”

Cuccinelli has assembled an anti-tax record in state government. He recently opposed a transportation plan, cut by Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell and the state legislature, which raised some taxes as part of a larger revenue deal to fund mass transit.

The Fairfax Republican has repeatedly signaled, publicly and privately, that he aims to tackle tax reform as governor. In theory, a plan that reshapes the larger tax system could run afoul of the narrowly constructed language of the ATR pledge.

Cuccinelli has not yet proposed a tax reform plan, but again hinted at his intention to do so in a campaign email Wednesday.

“I believe that we need a Governor who is focused on solving the problems we face like implementing a comprehensive transportation plan that addresses our long-term needs, and fashioning pro-growth tax reform,” Cuccinelli wrote in a message to supporters.

Norquist, the high-profile anti-tax warrior, said in an email to POLITICO only that he had “not heard” of Cuccinelli’s decision against signing pledges for the 2013 cycle.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the ATR website still included Cuccinelli as on its “State Taxpayer Protection List.”

In a February post on the ATR website, the conservative group held up Cuccinelli as a model Republican for opposing the McDonnell-backed transportation deal. The Democratic gubernatorial nominee-in-waiting, former national party chairman Terry McAuliffe, backed the legislation.

“I applaud Ken Cuccinelli for opposing what he rightly describes as a ‘massive tax increase.’ Given the high cost of gasoline,” Norquist said at the time. “Virginia legislators preparing to vote on the amended transportation plan should ask themselves where they stand. Do they stand with Terry McAuliffe, the Democrat nominee for Governor or with Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli?”

Cuccinelli is scheduled to address the Conservative Political Action Conference, an event Norquist helps organize, Thursday morning.

One Democratic strategist sniffed that Cuccinelli’s anti-transportation-plan, no-pledge stance represented “the worst of both worlds,” politically – whatever other assurances Cuccinelli gives about his tax proposals.

“Cuccinelli tried to kill McDonnell’s transportation plan but is now saying he is open to raising taxes, just not for transportation,” the strategist said, previewing a line voters are likely to hear from Democrats in the coming months.

Republicans have wrangled over the ATR document at the national level, with several vocal legislators in Washington suggesting last year that Republicans ought to consider cutting a deal on deficit reduction that discards their past anti-tax commitments.

The GOP ultimately allowed some George W. Bush-era tax cuts to expire as part of a January deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. There appears to be little remaining appetite among Republicans for any additional tax increases during the 113th Congress.