McAuliffe Casts His Primary Vote

Terry McAuliffe, Virginia’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate, cast his vote Tuesday morning for the two candidates he wants to appear with him on the ticket in the November general election.

McAuliffe swung by a quiet Spring Hill Elementary School around 8 a.m. Tuesday in McLean to vote before a busy day of travel around the Commonwealth.

The former chair of the Democratic Party didn’t pick any favorites between lieutenant governor candidates Aneesh Chopra and Ralph Northam or attorney general hopefuls Justin Fairfax and Mark Herring, but said he thought all of them would excel if elected.

“I think we have four great candidates running,” McAuliffe told Patch after casting his ballot. “What I’m most excited about is that tomorrow morning we’ll have a unified ticket to head out with about 150 days to go before Election Day.”

Once rounded out, the Democratic ticket will set its sights on bolstering Virginia’s economy, McAuliffe said.

“Our side is going to be focused on what Virginians want us to focus on – jobs, growing the economy, diversifying the economy, bringing in new businesses, growing small businesses,” he said.

McAuliffe also said he had spoken to all four candidates, who were onboard with his hopes to reform Virginia’s Standards of Learning Tests.

There will be “clear, stark” differences between the Democratic and Republican tickets, McAuliffe said.

GOP gubernatorial hopeful Ken Cuccinelli and running mates E.W. Jackson and Mark Obenshain have been “mired down in a social, ideological agenda,” McAuliffe said.

“We won’t have that on our side,” he said.

Cuccinelli is set to unveil policy at 1 p.m. Tuesday in Danville. He was in Martinsville Tuesday morning meeting with the city’s business leaders about job growth, according to his Facebook page.

The race leading up to the November election will likely draw national attention and plenty of money from outside the Commonwealth.

McAuliffe was only the 13th voter at Spring Hill, where polls opened at 6 a.m. Election officials said the turnout had been low but were hopeful it would pick up later in the day if the weather held.

McAuliffe will be making trips to Richmond then Hampton Roads Tuesday, before heading back to Richmond late Tuesday night in time for the Virginia Democratic Party’s “Unity Breakfast” at the Hippodrome Theater Wednesday morning.