© Stefani ReynoldsMcAuliffe announces bid for second term as Virginia governor
Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) announced Wednesday he will jump into the race for his old job, shaking up an already crowded primary field.
McAuliffe, who served as Virginia's chief executive from 2014-2018, officially launched his campaign in the state capital of Richmond, sending out an email to supporters ahead of an event in the state capital of Richmond in which he was expected to make the announcement.
Virginia is the only state in the country that bars governors from serving consecutive terms, and a McAuliffe victory would make him just the second Virginian since the Civil War to win a second stint as governor.
The former governor left office in early 2018 with high approval ratings and low unemployment, and he remains a looming figure in the commonwealth's politics. McAuliffe also has a national profile as a major fundraiser for Bill and Hillary Clinton and an ally of President-elect Joe Biden and is a former chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
In a show of the support he retains from state legislators in Richmond, including some of Virginia's top Black lawmakers, McAuliffe named state Sen. L. Louise Lucas, House Majority Leader Charniele Herring and Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney as campaign co-chairs.
Still, McAuliffe is jumping into a primary to win the nomination of a party that has pivoted to the left since he left office in a state that has grown more reliably blue, fueling calls by some for a more liberal candidate to emerge over the centrist power broker.
Three Democrats are already running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination - Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy and state Sen. Jennifer McClellan. All are Black, and Foy and McClellan are women.
Other gubernatorial candidates have indicated in recent weeks that McAuliffe's candidacy will not clear the primary field, hinting they'll cast the former governor as a party boss who represents the past.
In a statement ahead of McAuliffe's announcement, Foy labelled the former governor as one of the "career politicians" who "are interested in maintaining the status quo."
"While I respect Terry McAuliffe's service, he doesn't understand the problems Virginians face," she said. "A former political party boss and multi-millionaire, Terry McAuliffe is simply out of touch with everyday Virginians."
"We respect his service to Virginia, but our campaign is about moving this Commonwealth forward, not back," McClellan also said in a November fundraising appeal.
Del. Kirk Cox, the former speaker of the House of Delegates, is running for the GOP nomination, and state Sen. Amanda Chase said Saturday she will run as an independent.