Terry McAuliffe: Five things to know about the Democratic candidate for Virginia governor

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Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe will face off against Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin on Nov. 2 after weeks of tense campaigning on education, COVID-19 and the economy. Here's who he is.

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McAuliffe's history

Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton and Terry McAuliffe  (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

McAuliffe served as co-chairman of the 1996 Bill Clinton presidential campaign. He raised eyebrows by agreeing to guarantee a $1.35 million mortgage for the Clintons' house in Chappaqua, New York, a move that enabled Hillary Clinton to have a base for her New York Senate run in 2000. Clinton was $5 million in debt at the time.

McAuliffe went on to become the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005 and the chairman of Hillary Clinton's failed 2008 presidential campaign. 

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First term as governor

After an unsuccessful run for Virginia governor in 2009, McAuliffe won the 2013 election, serving as governor from 2014 to 2018. 

McAuliffe has boasted about his economic prowess, claiming that during his term, he helped create 200,000 jobs, raised personal income by 14%, and cut unemployment to 3.3%. Yet during his tenure, Virginia's economic growth rate lagged behind the rest of the country. Compared to Virginia's seven governors before him, McAuliffe's jobs numbers put him in the middle of the pack. 

Similarly, McAuliffe has repeatedly bragged that he "inherited the largest budget deficit in the history of the state from the Republicans" and left a surplus. The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler gave the Democrat "Four Pinocchios" for this claim, noting that his predecessor left a balanced budget.

McAuliffe repeatedly circumvented the legislature, using executive power to expand Medicaid and to grant voting rights to 156,000 former felons. Virginia's Supreme Court blocked the move on felon voting rights, but McAuliffe found a way around it.

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Education in the 2021 campaign

Virginians gather to support Glenn Youngkin. (Tyler O’Neil/Fox News)

Education has emerged as the central issue of the 2021 campaign between McAuliffe and his Republican opponent, Youngkin. 

Both Youngkin and McAuliffe have called for paying teachers more, but the two differ in their approach to hot-button education issues, like critical race theory and parental involvement. McAuliffe has repeatedly claimed that "critical race theory has never been taught in Virginia," saying that the issue itself is a "racist dog whistle." Youngkin, by contrast, has pledged to ban critical race theory in education. 

Youngkin has championed concerned parents, while McAuliffe has claimed that the education issue is a "divisive tactic" "generated by Glenn Youngkin." Parents expressed outrage when McAuliffe's 2019 remarks resurfaced – remarks in which McAuliffe said that "diversity" and "inclusion" are "as important as" math and English in schools.

McAuliffe has attempted to distance himself from remarks he made during a September debate. "I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach," he said at the time. A Fox News poll found that a majority of Virginia parents say that parents "should be telling schools what to teach."

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Scorched-earth tactics

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

McAuliffe has adopted a scorched-earth tactic against his Republican opponent. 

The Democrat has claimed that Youngkin would ban abortion and put doctors "in jail." In September, the Washington Post's fact-checker gave McAuliffe "Two Pinocchios" for his claims that Youngkin would ban abortions.

Bringing in the cavalry

Former President Obama and Terry McAuliffe (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

McAuliffe has also painted Youngkin as an anti-vaxxer in campaign ads, even as Youngkin encourages Virginians to take the COVID-19 vaccine in his own ads. Youngkin has opposed vaccine mandates.

McAuliffe has brought in major Democratic figures in the final stretch of the campaign. Even so, many of his events have attracted paltry crowds.

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President Biden, former President Obama, Vice President Kamala Harris and major Democratic figures like Stacey Abrams have campaigned with McAuliffe in recent days.