Former Virginia governor Democrat Terry McAuliffe will be the Party’s candidate in the upcoming gubernatorial race after handily winning the Democratic primary in the Commonwealth, Politico reports.
McAuliffe will face former Carlyle Group CEO Glenn Youngkin, the Republican candidate who was chosen by GOP convention representatives in a so-called “unassembled convention” last month, held remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Because of Virginia’s quirky rules, no candidate can run for reelection as governor, but a former governor can run for non-consecutive terms, allowing McAuliffe to run this year after serving from 2014 to 2018. With two-thirds of the primary vote in, McAuliffe holds a comfortable 40 percentage point lead over his nearest competitor.
Because of the timing of the race, months after a president is inaugurated, the Virginia governor’s race is widely seen as a bellwether for the sitting president. Seen as a middle-of-the-road Democrat, McAuliffe has a close relationship–both personal and political–with Bill and Hillary Clinton. McAuliffe was chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005, and he headed Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2008.
Youngkin is a political neophyte, having been with the Carlyle Group for the previous 25 years.