The partisan turmoil that has paralyzed Washington for the last few years apparently is contagious.

And like a plague, it spread to Virginia, where the General Assembly was stricken with an illness threatening the progress of the Commonwealth.

The latest symptom: GOP state lawmakers, in an attempt to stick it to Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe and all progressive-minded people of Virginia, nominated the polarizing Ken Cuccinelli to the state Supreme Court.

The 47-year-old former Virginia attorney general and ex-state senator from Northern Virginia championed an anti-tax, anti-abortion, anti-gay rights, anti-environment message with a passion that made him the darling of the ultraconservative Tea Party contingent. He was even more right of the GOP mainstream than his Republican colleagues. 

Shortly after Mr. Cuccinelli took office as the state’s top lawyer in January 2010, he told Virginia’s public colleges and universities that they lacked the authority to include sexual orientation in their non-discrimination policies. The resulting outcry was so overwhelming that then-Gov. Bob McDonnell, a fellow Republican, had to quell the controversy by issuing an executive directive reminding state entities that discrimination based on sexual orientation is prohibited.

Aiming to put Mr. Cuccinelli on the high court was a dangerous political ploy by a bunch of Republicans who falsely claim they are statesmen with Virginia’s best interest at heart.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Mr. Cuccinelli is the official who sued to block health insurance for the uninsured under Obamacare. He’s the attorney general who used his office to try to further his skewed/tilted political ideology by launching a fraud investigation targeting the research of a climate change scientist who formerly taught at the University of Virginia. He also essentially OKed the harassment of immigrants — or people thought to be immigrants — with his opinion authorizing Virginia law enforcement officials to investigate the immigration status of anyone they stopped, regardless of the reason.

And he accepted $18,000 in gifts and stock from a businessman peddling dietary supplements without reporting it on state disclosure forms. A federal grand jury later convicted former Gov. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, on multiple corruption counts for accepting bigger gifts from that same businessman, Jonnie Williams, CEO of Star Scientific.

Richmond’s commonwealth’s attorney cleared Mr. Cuccinelli of wrongdoing for failing to report the gifts. Mr. Cuccinelli later gave a like amount to charity.

Is it any wonder that less than 24 hours after Mr. Cuccinelli’s nomination to the Virginia Supreme Court, protesters turned out at the state Capitol to try to block his nomination? Petitions also were circulated and Twitter blew up under the hashtag #KeepKenOUT.

Henrico Sen. A. Donald McEachin credited the crush of calls and emails to legislators for tanking plans to put Mr. Cuccinelli on the court.

The voice of the people is critical in keeping fairness, balance and progress at the fore when it comes to appointments and a variety of legislation and decisions not only on the state level, but on the national and local levels as well.

We are the arbiters of what is acceptable and our vote is the ultimate tool to hold those who represent us accountable.

We don’t have enough information to offer an opinion yet on the hasty action Wednesday that produced the nomination of Virginia Appeals Court Judge Stephen R. McCullough of Spotsylvania. While he appears to have the high court position sewn up because he has the backing of Republican majorities in the House and Senate, he has several other things going in his favor: After earning his law degree from the University of Richmond, he served as a law clerk to state Supreme Court Justice Leroy R. Hassell Sr., the first African-American chief justice in the court’s history. We plan to examine Judge McCullough’s record more closely.

Judge McCullough also had many years of legal service in the state Office of the Attorney General before being named to the Court of Appeals in mid-2011.

Virginia deserves a justice with high character and judgment on the state Supreme Court, and not a hack who would use the court to advance his own political message and agenda.

Shame on the GOP legislators for trying to push such a shameful specimen as Mr. Cuccinelli on the people of Virginia and to such a highly respected and important position.

And we urge voters to hold accountable those elected officials who have turned this important decision into an undignified political circus.