Home McAuliffe, Ayala, Herring win Democratic Party statewide nominations
Politics, Virginia

McAuliffe, Ayala, Herring win Democratic Party statewide nominations

Chris Graham
virginia election
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Terry McAuliffe will run for a second term as governor, on a ticket including Northern Virginia Del. Haya Ayala and two-term Attorney General Mark Herring.

McAuliffe easily won a five-way race for the Democratic Party nomination for governor, polling at more than 61.5 percent of the vote with 90 percent of precincts reporting at 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Jennifer Carroll Foy, who resigned her House of Delegates seat to focus on her run for the nomination, was a distant second, at 20.5 percent. State Sen. Jennifer McClellan was third at 11.3 percent.

Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, once a rising star in Virginia Democratic circles, was way back in fourth at 3.6 percent, just ahead of self-styled Democratic Socialist Lee Carter, who was at 2.8 percent.

Ayala, the first Latina major party statewide nominee in Virginia political history, won a more competitive seven-candidate race for the lieutenant governor nomination, polling at 36.3 percent at the 9 p.m. hour to outpace Roanoke Del. Sam Rasoul, who was at 23.6 percent.

The two-man battle for the AG nomination was much closer than the final pre-election polls had suggested, with Herring, who was first elected in 2013, the year that McAuliffe won his first term as governor, at 55.4 percent, outpacing Norfolk Del. Jay Jones, who was at 44.6 percent.

Story by Chris Graham

 

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham, the king of "fringe media," a zero-time Virginia Sportswriter of the Year, and a member of zero Halls of Fame, is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].