Virginia has a “designated survivor,” too. And they would be governor after a catastrophe.

Jan. 20--RICHMOND -- For every State of the Union address, a member of the president's Cabinet is chosen to serve as the "designated survivor" -- the person who takes over as president if a major catastrophe strikes the Capitol, where every lawmaker, member of the executive branch and the Supreme Court gather.

News outlets do a story every year on who serves as designated survivor. An ABC TV show of the same name has put the role squarely in the pop culture lexicon.

Since at least 9/11, Virginia has chosen a designated survivor for its annual State of the Commonwealth address to ensure continuity in government, but few know about it or its origins -- not even the governor himself.

"That's actually news to me. I didn't know that," Gov. Ralph Northam said Friday.

The odd twist is, unlike the national version, the speaker of the House in recent years has chosen the person to be next in line for governor in the event of a catastrophic event.

This year, a tweet from the head of the Department of Emergency Management, which carries out disaster planning, revealed conservative Del. Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge, took on the role during Northam's much-discussed Monday speech.

Cline said the speaker rotates committee heads to serve and described the experience as surreal.

But this year, what usually is a once-a-year event expanded to three -- a farewell address from then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe, inauguration of new Gov. Northam, and another State of the Commonwealth from Northam. Del. Mark Cole, R-Spotsylvania, served this year. Many lawmakers were out of town for the inauguration, so it doesn't appear the plan needed to be put in place.

Virginia media has rarely reported on this odd fact, so I went on a fact-finding mission.

In 2003, Attorney General Jerry Kilgore served in the role, according to the Roanoke Times. Del. Kathy Byron served in 2010, the News and Advance reported. Del. Ed Scott said he served in 2015, according to an op-ed he wrote for the Culpeper Star-Exponent.

I asked Public Safety and Homeland Security Secretary Brian Moran, who said his office doesn't really deal with it, but he was happy to rattle off plot points about the show "Designated Survivor," which debuted in 2016. It features a mild-mannered HUD secretary, played by Kiefer Sutherland, thrust into the presidency after a bomb goes off at the Capitol during the State of the Union address.

Moran is a Sutherland fan.

"I mean, he's no Jack Bauer," Moran said of Sutherland's famous "24" character. "But it's a good show."

I asked Byron about her turn in 2010. She doesn't remember much, other than a tour of the undisclosed location.

"I would've rather been dropped off at the mall," Byron joked. "God forbid something happens, but I guess nowadays with terrorism and all this crazy stuff happening, you better be prepared.

"I think the chances are so small, you don't really think about" what happens if you're all of a sudden governor.

Byron had served 12 years at that point and said she knows there's government workers that would've made her feel comfortable in the role.

The odds of terrorists wanting to strike a state delegation seem significantly lower than taking out the federal government, but still there is a plan.

According to Virginia Code, the succession goes from lieutenant governor, attorney general, to the speaker of the House to the speaker's designee. All of those people attend the State of the Commonwealth, though it's unclear why Attorney General Mark Herring hasn't volunteered to sit out McAuliffe's or Northam's speeches, as Kilgore once said.

It creates an odd scenario where a person on the opposite side of the political spectrum could temporarily assume the governorship for the other party. For instance, Cline is staunchly anti-abortion and Northam unabashedly supports a woman's right to choose. They're polar opposites on guns, immigration and health care, too.

One person noticed the irony of a potential Gov. Cline and replied to the tweet, "What a nightmare that would be for Virginia."

A new House would likely be convened to eventually vote on a new governor, the code says.

Northam said he's gotten along with Cline, who is now running for Congress.

"We share in common that he's from Lexington and I've spent some time in Lexington (at VMI), so I guess as I would be looking down over things, I could accept it," he said a bit tongue-in-cheek. "Looking down or perhaps looking up."

As for whom he would choose? Sen. Barbara Favola, with whom he's worked closely on health care.

Wrapping up

* Northam held a casual sitdown with Capitol media Friday and discussed a number of issues, including his optimism for Medicaid expansion this year and budget talks, which were insightful. But he led with what he said was his best day on the job: Friday, the day he finally found the traditional prank alarm clock that Gov. Terry McAuliffe taped to the underside of a linen chest in the mansion before he left. It was set to go off at 3 a.m. every morning and then shut off. Northam looks forward to getting some good sleep again.

* The governor spent part of the week meeting lawmakers and smoothing over "ruffled feathers" with Republicans who said his Monday night speech was too partisan and it turned them off on working together. He met Wednesday with House Appropriations Chair Chris Jones, R-Suffolk, with whom Northam said he can work closely: "He's a pharmacist. I'm a physician. He actually filled a lot of prescriptions that I have written in the past. And I think we have a lot of similarities with the way we want to move forward with the budget."

* Northam also talked about his congratulatory phone call Sunday from President Donald Trump, whom Northam called a "narcissistic maniac" during the gubernatorial campaign. Northam said it was a "very cordial conversation" and they talked about the military, his background as a military doctor and the importance of building Navy ships and submarines in Newport News. "And I told him I look forward to working with him in that regard."

* As to whether he stands by the "maniac" comment after the personal phone call, Northam laughed: "I appreciate him calling me, but as far as that particular term, I stand by what I said. And I've said all along, if there are policies we can work together on, I'd be more than happy to do that. But if there are policies that I disagree with and aren't good for Virginia, then I'll stand up for Virginia. I think he understands that."

With plenty of new delegates there are nearly 700 more bills filed in 2018 compared to last year. Friday was the last day to file new bills.

But turns out there's more nuance than a year-to-year comparison.

Delegates have a 15-bill cap on short 45-day session years, which happen on odd years.

The recent peak year was 3,323 bills in 2008.

Jordan Pascale, 757-446-2276, jordan.pascale@pilotonline.com Follow @jwpascale on Twitter.

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