64 Facts About Terry McAuliffe

Terence Richard McAuliffe was born on February 9,1957 and is an American businessman and politician who served as the 72nd governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018.

Terry McAuliffe was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2009 Virginia gubernatorial election.

Terry McAuliffe ran for a non-consecutive second term as governor in the 2021 gubernatorial election but narrowly lost to Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin.

Terry McAuliffe left office with high approval ratings, though not as high as his immediate predecessors.

Terry McAuliffe was born and raised in Syracuse, New York, the son of Mildred Katherine and Jack Terry McAuliffe.

Terry McAuliffe's father was a real estate agent and local Democratic politician.

At the age of 14, Terry McAuliffe started his first business, Terry McAuliffe Driveway Maintenance, sealing driveways and parking lots.

In 1979, Terry McAuliffe met Richard Swann, a lawyer who was in charge of the fundraising for Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign in Florida.

Under Swann's guidance, Terry McAuliffe purchased some of American Pioneer's real estate from the Resolution Trust Corporation.

Terry McAuliffe's equal partner in the deal was a pension fund controlled by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the National Electrical Contractors Association.

Terry McAuliffe attempted to gain tax credits from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the state's business recruitment agency, to build GreenTech Automotive's factory in Virginia.

Terry McAuliffe refused to supply the VEDP with proper documentation of their business strategy and investors, which caused the VEDP to decline economic incentives for GreenTech Automotive.

Terry McAuliffe gave 32 wealthy Chinese nationals EB-5 visas in exchange for $560,000 investments into GreenTech Automotive, which exceeded the Department of Homeland Security's determined quota for GreenTech Automotive.

Terry McAuliffe had a prolific fundraising career within the Democratic Party and a personal and political relationship with Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Terry McAuliffe told New York Times reporter Mark Leibovich in 2012 that his Rolodex held 18,632 names.

Terry McAuliffe immediately accepted appointment as Romer's replacement when asked on a phone call by presumptive presidential nominee Al Gore.

In February 2001, Terry McAuliffe was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee and served until February 2005.

Terry McAuliffe was co-chair of the Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign and one of her superdelegates at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

On November 10,2008, Terry McAuliffe formed an exploratory committee for the Virginia gubernatorial election in 2009.

On November 8,2012, Terry McAuliffe emailed supporters announcing his intention to run for governor of Virginia in 2013.

Terry McAuliffe broke a 40-year trend and was the first candidate of the sitting president's party elected governor of Virginia since 1973.

Terry McAuliffe took the oath of office on January 11,2014.

Terry McAuliffe vetoed more bills than his three predecessors combined.

Terry McAuliffe vetoed bills mainly concerning social legislation, including abortion and LGBT rights, along with the environment and voting rights.

Terry McAuliffe participated in more than 35 trade and marketing missions to five continents, more than any other preceding governor, to promote state tourism and other products.

Terry McAuliffe was elected as vice chair of the National Governors Association in July 2015 and became chair of the organization in July 2016.

Terry McAuliffe maintained strong job approval ratings among registered voters in Virginia, but he was less popular than Bob McDonnell, Tim Kaine, and Mark Warner.

Terry McAuliffe helped broker a deal with the Corporate Executive Board to move its global headquarters in Arlington which created 800 new jobs.

Terry McAuliffe worked on deals to restore service in Norfolk from Carnival Cruise Lines and Air China service to Dulles International Airport.

Terry McAuliffe had worked with the company for more than a year to secure the move.

Terry McAuliffe helped with bringing Amazon's second headquarters to Virginia in 2018.

Terry McAuliffe's order was initially overturned by the Supreme Court of Virginia, which ruled that the Constitution of Virginia did not allow the governor to grant blanket pardons and restorations of rights.

Progressive challengers Steve Descano and Parisa Dehghani-Tafti supported by Terry McAuliffe defeated Stamos and Morrogh, respectively, in primary elections in 2019; Ebert retired.

On January 31,2017, McAuliffe appeared with Attorney General Mark Herring to announce that Virginia was joining the lawsuit Aziz v Trump, challenging President Donald Trump's immigration executive order.

Terry McAuliffe commuted two death sentences, that of Ivan Teleguz and William Joseph Burns.

Terry McAuliffe was governor during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville Virginia.

Terry McAuliffe pardoned 227 people during his tenure, the most of any Virginia governor, and three times as many as his predecessor Bob McDonnell.

Terry McAuliffe rejected an application for pardon from Jens Soering.

Terry McAuliffe initially called for Governor Ralph Northam to resign in 2019 after a photo on his 1984 medical-school yearbook page showed a photo of a man in blackface; Northam issued an apology, and Terry McAuliffe later dropped calls for Northam's resignation.

Democrat Doug Wilder, who served as Virginia's first Black governor, criticized Terry McAuliffe, arguing that he acted inconsistently on race issues, Wilder said that Terry McAuliffe pushed aside Black politicians.

However, Morrissey later made a political comeback, and after unseating a Democratic incumbent in a primary, gained the support of Virginia Democrats, including Terry McAuliffe, who helped raise money for Morrissey in the 2019 elections.

Former Delegate Lashrecse Aird, who lost her House seat in 2021 while on the ballot with Terry McAuliffe, has launched a primary challenge against Morrissey to unseat him in 2023.

Consistent with his past campaigns, Terry McAuliffe had a backslapping, gregarious campaign style.

Terry McAuliffe campaigned on his economic record from his term as governor, supporting infrastructure improvements, voting rights, and Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan.

Terry McAuliffe criticized Youngkin for running a campaign ad with a supporter who attempted to ban Toni Morrison's novel Beloved from Virginia schools.

In election exit polls, more than 8 in 10 voters said parents should have at least some input into what schools teach; Terry McAuliffe won with this group of voters, but Youngkin won with voters who said parents should have "a lot" of input into what schools teach.

Major Democratic figures campaigned with Terry McAuliffe, including Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Stacey Abrams, and Kamala Harris.

Terry McAuliffe has argued for workforce development, with education proposals being funded through savings from the proposed Medicaid expansion.

In 2016, Terry McAuliffe vetoed a bill that would have allowed parents to block books containing "sexually explicit content" in schools; the bill was known as the "Beloved bill" because its supporters cited the Toni Morrison novel as examples of objectionable works.

In 2017, Terry McAuliffe vetoed Republican-backed legislation to increase the number of charter schools; in vetoing the bill, Terry McAuliffe cited its removal of authority from local school boards to make decisions about local public schools and expressed concern about diverting funding from public schools.

Terry McAuliffe believes that human activity has contributed to global warming, and characterizes clean energy as a national security issue.

Terry McAuliffe supports reducing dependence on foreign oil through investment in technologies such as carbon capture and storage, solar farms, and offshore wind turbines.

Terry McAuliffe announced his support for the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan, which would limit the amount of carbon dioxide that could be emitted by power plants, making it difficult to build new coal-fired plants and to keep old ones operating.

In 2017, Terry McAuliffe asked the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to exclude Virginia's coastal areas from a program to open the East Coast to offshore drilling.

Terry McAuliffe has called for an assault weapons ban in Virginia.

In January 2016, Terry McAuliffe reached a compromise with Republicans, allowing interstate holders of concealed carry permits in Virginia, nullifying Attorney General Mark Herring's previous ruling, effective February 1,2016.

Terry McAuliffe supports expanding Medicaid, arguing that taxes Virginians pay would return to Virginia.

In 2021, according to PolitiFact, Terry McAuliffe made a "full flop" on qualified immunity, initially supporting its repeal when attempting to win the support of Democrats in the primary before reversing course in the general election.

Terry McAuliffe supported the United States Supreme Court rulings in United States v Windsor and Obergefell v Hodges.

Terry McAuliffe supported the bipartisan transportation bill that passed the General Assembly in 2013.

Terry McAuliffe is in favor of the Silver Line, which would expand Metrorail services into Fairfax and Loudoun counties.

Terry McAuliffe authored two books that both appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list.

In 2019, Terry McAuliffe wrote a second book in the aftermath of the Unite the Right rally, entitled Beyond Charlottesville, Taking a Stand Against White Nationalism.

Terry McAuliffe ran unopposed in the 2013 Virginia gubernatorial Democratic primary.