James S. Gilmore III (born October 6, 1949), commonly known as Jim Gilmore, is a United States Republican Party politician. Prior to being governor of Virginia, he served as Virginia's Attorney General from 1994 until 1997, and as Commonwealth's Attorney for Henrico County. He served as governor of Virginia from 1998 until 2002. He had defeated his Democratic opponent, Don Beyer, in the 1997 election, 56%-42%. Gilmore's victory was partly due to his promise to revoke Virginia's car tax. The car tax was cut by 70 percent during the Gilmore Administration. The car tax cut enabled Virginians to save billions of dollars and helped many Virginians buy better cars which reduced emissions. The car tax cut was not fully implemented due to a downturn in the economy in 2001. Because of the economic slowdown and the cost of the tax cut, the state faced a $1 billion deficit. Jim Gilmore also began to implement the Standards of Learning that were first adopted by previous Governor George Allen. Jim Gilmore also was the first governor to ensure that all lottery dollars were directed to public education. Gilmore left office in January 2002, as Virginia governors are limited to a single four-year term, and was replaced by Governor Mark Warner, who won by focusing on the budget deficit caused by Gilmore. Jim Gilmore has also been very influential in developing the homeland security strategy for the nation. From 1999 - 2003 he chaired the Congressional Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction. This congressionally mandated commission is more commonly known as the "Gilmore Commission." All five reports were presented to Presidents Clinton and Bush and the entire Congress each December 15th from 1999 - 2003. Of the Gilmore Commission's 144 recommendations, 125 have been adopted in whole or in part by the Congress and the federal government. The reports can be found at www.rand.org. Jim Gilmore also served as chairman of the Republican National Committee from January 2001 until January 2002. He currently works as a Partner in Washington, DC at the law firm of Kelley, Drye & Warren [1] and is president of USA Secure [2] a non-profit homeland security think tank based in Washington, DC. Mr. Gilmore plans on running for public office again. He and his wife Roxane Gatling Gilmore reside in Richmond and Alexandria Virginia. They have two sons.