As the Virginia 2013 general election approaches, the Virginia GOP has officially nominated its candidates for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General. The Virginia GOP has nominated Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli as the candidate for Governor, Pastor E.W. Jackson for Lieutenant Governor, and State Senator Mark Obenshain for Attorney General. These three men are big government, radical conservatives who only want to make your business their business.

Many people who identify as conservative or Republican explain that they want limited government. These three candidates cannot say the same.

First, let’s look at Ken Cuccinelli, who is the current Attorney General of Virginia. As Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli is known for being “pro-family”—he has been radical on the issues of LGBT rights, women’s rights, privacy, and even wore an altered Virginia seal because in it the goddess Virtus had her left breast exposed (yes, really).

If that doesn’t paint a clear enough picture for you, here are some other things that Ken Cuccinelli’s track record includes:

Not exactly a pro-woman (or, really, pro anything) candidate. And definitely not an advocate for small government.

If you thought Cuccinelli was bad, let’s take a look at State Senator Mark Obenshain, who is running to replace him as AG. Obenshain might be able to beat him out for “least woman-friendly public official ever”. As Senator, Obenshain wanted to pass an invasive bill that would require a woman to report a miscarriage to the police within 24 hours—or face jail time. Obenshain, just like Cuccinelli, is anti-LGBT and does not want sexual orientation or gender identity to be protected under universities’ antidiscrimination policies.

Finally, Pastor E.W. Jackson, the Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor. Jackson is known for being anti-Muslim and wanting to reinstate “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”. Think you might recognize him? Well, that’s probably from his YouTube viral video urging Black Christians to leave the Democratic Party. In this video he explains how homosexuality is wrong and should not be compared to the Black Civil Rights movement and compares Planned Parenthood to the KKK. I must have missed all those burning crosses that they put in my yard…

Even the current Lieutenant Governor, Republican Bill Bolling said that Jackson was out of line,

“These kinds of comments are simply not appropriate, especially not from someone who wants to be a standard-bearer for our party and hold the second-highest elected office in our state.”

Look Virginia GOP, I get it. You want to nominate the best candidates! But it seems as if these three candidates have too much baggage and aren’t the best for the Commonwealth. If the government that governs best is the one that governs least, you have nominated three people who stand for the opposite of that. Where did the limited government GOP go?