A state lawmaker resigned as a Hampton prosecutor Thursday — stepping aside 12 days before the election in which he’s seeking a new term at the General Assembly.
Hampton Commonwealth’s Attorney Anton Bell said Del. Mike Mullin, D-Newport News — who’s worked under him as an assistant prosecutor since 2018 ? “left for personal reasons.”
“I can confirm that he’s no longer with the office,” Bell said Friday.
Bell said Mullin’s resignation “had nothing to do with politics,” and that rumors that spread Friday of a loud argument between the two are “an outright lie.”
“There was absolutely no shouting match,” Bell said. “I’ll go even further to say there wasn’t even raised voices. It was just a conversation.”
Bell called the case “a personnel matter,” saying he couldn’t elaborate. “I’m very open, very transparent, but I’m not getting sued over being transparent,” he said.
Before Thursday, there was no indication that Mullin was planning to resign.
The men are still on speaking terms. In fact, while Bell was on the phone with a reporter Friday, Mullin called in to the prosecutor’s office. Bell took the call, then called the reporter back.
“I just talked to him, and he said he did not mind if I share this, so I’ll share it with you now: He resigned for personal reasons,” Bell said.
Mullin, who recently remarried, said later that he resigned and hopes to land a new job in the Williamsburg area.
“I’m moving to Williamsburg,” he said. “I want to be able to have a larger family … I have to take off the time anyway, to be able to campaign. I can’t take any money for (that time off), and I will be taking time off for my honeymoon.”
When asked if he and Bell had a disagreement over a particular case, Mullin at first responded only with, “Anton runs a wonderful office.”
When pressed, Mullin said that he “can’t speak about specific cases” by policy — then maintained that there was no such dispute.
“I resigned,” Mullin said. “I said thank you very much for the two-plus years of working with the office.”
Mullin is the incumbent running against Republican Jordan Gray to represent the state’s 93rd District of the House of Delegates.
Mullin was an assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Suffolk for about five years before working for a private law firm, Waltrip & Campbell, for two years before becoming an assistant prosecutor in Hampton in 2018.
Over the years, Public Defender’s Offices in Hampton and Suffolk have filed at least five motions asserting that Mullin’s dual roles serving as a prosecutor and state lawmaker “creates a conflict of interest for the judiciary.”
Judges have rejected those motions.
Local defense attorney Ron Smith said he was initially concerned about Mullin when the prosecutor began in Hampton — thinking he might be heavy handed, particularly because he’s on a legislative committee that helps to select judges.
“I had reservations about a prosecutor who’s also in the General Assembly,” Smith said. “But I was pleasantly surprised that he was fair and levelheaded. He was aggressive when he had to be, and not aggressive when he didn’t have to be. And he’s always cordial and personable and easy to work with.”
Peter Dujardin, 757-247-4749, pdujardin@dailypress.com