VA-Gov: WaPo Endorses “First-Rate” Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) For The Democratic Nominee

The Washington Post Editorial Board made their endorsement today:

IF VIRGINIA governors were allowed consecutive terms in office, Terry McAuliffe could have run for reelection in 2017 and almost certainly would have won easily. But the commonwealth is an outlier — the only state whose constitution mandates eviction for governors every four years — so Mr. McAuliffe is making what amounts to his reelection bid now. His first hurdle, the Democratic primary on June 8, pits him against four rivals, none of whom has landed more than a glancing blow.

And no wonder. The fact is that Mr. McAuliffe was an excellent governor who notched major achievements despite being hamstrung by Republicans, who then controlled the state legislature. His performance in office — tireless, bold, pragmatic — confounded the expectations of many, even in his own party, who once regarded him as a fast-talking opportunist.

His primary opponents are current or former Democratic officeholders; one of them, state Sen. Jennifer McClellan of Richmond, is admired as a seasoned, substantive legislator. Yet neither she nor any of the others — former delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy; Del. Lee Carter; and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax — has made a plausible case that they could match Mr. McAuliffe’s talent for persuasion and strategy.

As governor, Mr. McAuliffe succeeded in wiping out a colossal injustice: the disenfranchisement of more than 200,000 people convicted of felonies, nearly half of them African Americans, whose debt to society had been paid, in many cases decades earlier. By restoring the vote all but automatically to ex-inmates following the completion of their criminal sentence, Mr. McAuliffe overcame opposition from GOP lawmakers and the state Supreme Court, and did as much to advance the cause of racial equity as any governor in Virginia’s history.