Posted on 11/05/2013 10:44:22 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
TYSONS CORNER -- Terry McAuliffe, the former Democratic fundraiser and confidant of Bill and Hillary Clinton, will be Virginia's next governor after defeating his conservative opponent, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, on Tuesday in a race that confirmed the state's status as an increasingly blue battleground.
The marquee contest was marked throughout by historically high spending, a relentless barrage of attacks on both sides and campaign trail cameos by some of the nation's most prominent political figures.
With more than 99 percent of precincts reporting, McAuliffe led Cuccinelli by less than 2 percent — 48 percent to 46 percent — or roughly 40,000 votes.
“This race was never a choice between Democrats or Republicans,” McAuliffe said in his victory speech to an excited crowd of supporters in a hotel ballroom. “It was a choice about whether Virginia would continue the mainstream bipartisan tradition that has served us so well over the past decade.”
Democrat Ralph Northam was elected as the state's next lieutenant governor, unofficial returns showed. He defeated Republican E.W. Jackson, a Baptist minister whose controversial past statements on hot-button issues like gay rights and abortion made him an easy target for Democrats.
Democrats did not sweep all three top statewide offices, however. Mark Obenshain, the Republican candidate for attorney general, led Democrat Mark Herring by 2 percent with 94 percent of the precincts counted.
But it was the McAuliffe-Cuccinelli showdown that captured the national attention of both Democrats and Republicans looking for early indications of voter attitudes and potential campaign strategies ahead of the 2014 congressional elections.
McAuliffe, a former Democratic National Committee chairman and friend and fundraiser for the Clintons, easily outspent Cuccinelli by nearly 2-to-1, allowing him to fund a barrage of attack ads that portrayed Cuccinelli as an ideological extremist.
McAuliffe also benefited from a highly effective get-out-the-vote effort that, in an election that hinged on turnout, helped push participation levels beyond that of the last gubernatorial campaign in 2009 and closer to the 2012 presidential election's levels.
One measure of the race's status as the most competitive race in the off-year elections nationwide was the parade of political celebrities who made their way to the Old Dominion's campaign trail.
President Obama and the Clintons, among others, campaigned with and raised cash for McAuliffe. A trio of Tea Party heroes — Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Marco Rubio of Florida — were among those standing with Cuccinelli.
The Virginia race played out against a political backdrop of a government shutdown, gridlocked Congress and internal feud between conservative and moderate Republicans. McAuliffe tried to tie Cuccinelli to Washington’s problems, including the conservative-driven shutdown. Cuccinelli, meanwhile, linked McAuliffe to the increasingly unpopular Obama and the president’s troubled health care reforms. On the eve of the election, Cuccinelli declared his race to be a referendum on Obamacare.
"This race came down to the wire because of Obamacare," Cuccinelli said Tuesday.
McAuliffe’s fundraising advantage was clearly paying dividends, particularly late in the race when it mattered most. During the week of Oct. 28, McAuliffe’s campaign ran roughly 2,500 TV ads — spending about as much as Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, did to win in 2009 — compared with 1,500 aired by Cuccinelli’s campaign.
Polls in the final days of the election showed McAuliffe leading Cuccinelli by roughly 6 to 7 percentage points.
In addition to enduring the advertising blitz, Cuccinelli was also hamstrung by a conservative record that alienated moderate and independent voters — and by more than a few of his fellow Republicans who backed McAuliffe.
The strain between Cuccinelli and much of the rest of his party was fueled by Cuccinelli’s successful effort to change the Republican nominating process from an open primary that favored a moderate candidate to a closed convention dominated by his conservative supporters.
McAuliffe faced his own obstacles, including his ties to GreenTech Automotive, a company he helped found that was the subject of a federal investigation into whether he obtained special treatment for the company from the federal government.
Some voters were left dissatisfied with both candidates and drove Robert Sarvis, a libertarian candidate whose candidacy offered voters turned off by McAuliffe and Cuccinelli a none-of-the-above option. Unofficial returns showed Sarvis winning about 7 percent of the vote.
I am involved in politics in VA. The RNC did not support Cuccinelli at all. Do not ever send money to the RNC.
Then why did the GoPe not support him?
“It was a choice about whether Virginia would continue the mainstream bipartisan tradition that has served us so well over the past decade.”
UniParty platform logic wins again.
http://electionresults.virginia.gov/resultsCTY.aspx?type=SWR&rid=169&osn=6&map=CTY
I didn't see anything about the Libertarian being fake. The Libertarian party did nothing to disavow him, which is why those clowns should never be trusted.
No reason he should have conceded with the vote this close
Fight it out in the courts, expose the fraud, get people out in the streets demanding a recount
Elections are war, never surrender, smash the left
McCauliffe was probably put over the top by stupid white women who wanted someone else to pay for their abortions and birth control. Like their boyfriend Obama. And from everything I have hear, the GOP did as little as possible to help Cucinelli. I am more upset at the GOP than anyone else.
Stunning article. Guy wins by 2 points, and it’s a referendum on all the Democrat talking pionts - yet he was ahead 6 or 7 in the polls right up to the election, and a third party candidate took 7. Does this make any sense?
there is no second term for VA governors, they are term limited. I’m not sure about recall options.
The problem was the money. This was just like 1992 and 2012 when they used pac money to define Cucc over the summer and bankrolled a “third party” to muddy the waters.
If the national RNC contributed just a little more, this would have been a W for the good guys but they sat it out. Cucc was outspent 10-1 and I believe it will be even more when all the dust settles on the other races.
It sinks in when you have mulitiple conversations with their recent college graduates (paid by you and me via grants): they will not vote conservative because of their own self-interests. Check mate. O haquemate, como quiera.
I predict Fast Terry will be the next Democrat governor to go to prison!
I am afraid that she has bought herself obama’s throne. I have never in my life been so dejected over America but America seems to want to die and whither away.
Oh and mcdemon has credited republican cross over voters with his victory and especially due to eric cantor’s ex CoS working directly for mcpukeface. republicans (gop/e) are absolutely treasonous.
The libertarian candidate took 6% of the vote away from Cuccinelli. That didn’t happen at the AG level.
DAMN TWISTER,JUST DAMN.:)
Sigh. One more state not to move to.
I think you’ve identified the problem. These ‘Rat scumbags don’t just walk off the street and into elective office. The voters put them there. We have to face the fact that with the present makeup of the electorate on a national level, we are a minority. So are the liberal ‘Rats. But the majority of the middle ground voters are going ‘Rat in increasing numbers because of a thing that can be described in two words: free money. There is an entire generation out there now whose majority looks to government for solutions to problems, not individual effort and a work ethic. And those of us who still believe in those things are increasingly discouraged because we see what we have worked for being taken away by those who will not pull their own weight, but look to take from others.
“As for corruption, the Rats have shown that they can overcome an amazing amount of baggage with mountains of money.”
A depressing truth.
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