He also served on the Rules Committee 2000–05, and was Assistant Majority Leader. While serving in state office, McDonnell continued to serve in the Army Reserve as a JAG officer until retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1997. In 1994, McDonnell supported, and was a major co-sponsor of George Allen's initiative to abolish parole for those convicted of a felony. Attorney General (2006–2009) In 2005, McDonnell ran for attorney general. He campaigned on issues including protecting children from sexual predators, drug enforcement, identity theft, gang violence, and terrorism. The first result showed him with a victory of 323 votes, out of over 1.9 million votes cast, over his opponent, Democratic State Senator Creigh Deeds. Deeds filed for a recount, which began on December 20, 2005. A court decision limited the recount to just recompiling vote totals instead of examining individual optically scanned ballots. After preliminary figures revealed 37 more votes for McDonnell and that Deeds could not make up the difference, he conceded the next day, giving McDonnell a 323-vote margin of victory. McDonnell outspent Deeds in the general election by nearly $1 million. He was inaugurated on January 14, 2006, in Williamsburg, along with Democratic Governor Tim Kaine and Republican Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling. Tenure In 2007, McDonnell "played a key role in early negotiations" on the transportation package that was the key issue of contention in the General Assembly. However, subsequently the package was declared unconstitutional based on a challenge filed by a Republican state senator. Prior to a performance of the Sex Workers' Art Show at the College of William and Mary in 2008, McDonnell forbade the sale of the group's books on school grounds. McDonnell took the side of defecting Northern Virginia Episcopalians in a property lawsuit over the right of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia to retain church property. In February 2009, McDonnell resigned as attorney general to campaign full-time for the governorship of Virginia in the 2009 election. 2009 campaign for governor McDonnell announced his candidacy for the 2009 Virginia gubernatorial election at American Legion's Boy's State of Virginia 2007, making him the seventh consecutive elected attorney general to run. The statewide candidates, including McDonnell as governor, were selected at a Republican State convention rather than a primary. Less than two weeks later, Creigh Deeds won his party's nomination in a primary, setting up a "rematch" of the state attorney general's race four years