VA-Gov, VA Legislature: Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced on Wednesday evening that he would not join the Democratic presidential primary, explaining that he feels duty-bound to help flip Virginia's closely divided legislature this fall.
McAuliffe noted that the state has "had a lot of problems" since February, when twin scandals engulfed Gov. Ralph Northam and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax. Ordinarily, a party's top statewide officials would be busy raising money to support their legislative candidates, but as this infographic vividly shows, Northam and Fairfax have been rendered impotent pariahs. Northam in fact has only raised $2,500 since his blackface debacle unfolded, something McAuliffe specifically cited in an interview with the New York Times.
McAuliffe also danced around questions from CNN's Chris Cuomo about whether he might seek a comeback as governor and ultimately wouldn't rule out the idea. Virginia, alone in the nation, limits governors to a single four-year term, but former office-holders can run for non-consecutive terms. The last person to pull off this feat was Mills Godwin, who was elected as a Democrat in 1965, then as a Republican in 1973. That also made him the first governor in U.S. history to be elected as a member of both parties.
Still, it's extremely early to be discussing a race that won't take place until 2021. Our general practice is to only start delving into an election no more than two years beforehand, because too much is likely to change this far out. Like T-Mac, we're focused on November's legislative elections, so we'll take a closer look at Virginia's next gubernatorial contest after those are in the books.