Gerald Lee Baliles was a Virginia lawyer and Democratic politician whose career spanned great social and technological changes in his native state. The 65th Governor of Virginia, the native of Patrick County previously served as the Commonwealth's attorney general (1982–85), and represented Richmond and Henrico County in the Virginia House of Delegates (1972-1982). After another stint in private legal practice, with Hunton & Williams (1991-2005), Baliles directed the nonpartisan Miller Center of Public Affairs associated with his alma mater, the University of Virginia (2006-2014).

Patrick County is a county located on the central southern border of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 17,608. Its county seat is Stuart. It is located within both the rolling hills and valleys of the Piedmont Region and the more mountainous regions of Southwest Virginia.