Chopra to run for lieutenant governor

Aneesh Chopra, the former U.S. CTO, is running for lieutenant governor of Virginia.

Chopra, who announced his candidacy on Facebook, will run as a Democrat.

“Since I left my position as U.S. Chief Technology Officer, friends, neighbors, business and community leaders have encouraged me to take action by running for statewide office,” he wrote. “I'm humbled by their support and pleased to announce that today, after months of reflection, I enthusiastically filed my candidate qualification to seek the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in 2013.”

Chopra served as the national CTO from 2009 to 2012.  While he acknowledged his national service, he emphasized his work in his previous role as Virginia’s Secretary of Technology under former Gov. Tim Kaine.

“We created hands-on high school technology training through Virginia STAR, accelerated efforts to prepare more people without a high school degree for jobs of the future through PluggedInVA, and harnessed the power of mobile technology to support great teaching through our Learning Without Boundaries initiative,” he wrote.

“I remain excited about these efforts and the new opportunities we have to bring Virginians together to solve our biggest challenges in the years ahead. I am committed to seeding innovative ideas that support a quality workforce and educating Virginians throughout their lifetime to strengthen and maintain a state economy that is built to last.”