Terry McAuliffe (D) was elected the 72nd governor of Virginia late Tuesday night. In a close race, McAuliffe won 48.0 percent of the vote. Republican opponent Ken Cuccinelli II won 45.5 percent and Libertarian Robert Sarvis won 6.6 percent.
McAuliffe, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has never held public office before. Cuccinelli on the other hand was attorney general of Virginia.
Alejandro Perez-Reyes (SFS ’17), a fellow for the McAuliffe campaign this summer, said that the election was pivotal for the nation. “Virginia is a purple state. It’s become the closest representation to what the nation looks like demographic wise,” he said.
National issues such as abortion and Obamacare stole the spotlight away from local issues. Cuccinelli’s strong pro-life stance led members of H*yas for Choice to protest the Republican governor-elect on Sep. 25 at the second McAuliffe/Cuccinelli debate in McLean, Va.
In addition, members of GU Democrats were heavily involved in the McAuliffe campaign. Many participated in phone banking and canvassing for the Democratic governor-elect since the beginning of the academic year in late August.
“This past weekend, I spent my time in Manassas, just knocking doors for McAuliffe. I phone banked yesterday for McAuliffe to make sure people voted,” Joseph Laposata (COL ’16), tabling director for the GU Democrats and Speakers Coordinator for the D.C. Federation, said.
Perez-Reyes felt the clear takeaway from the election was the need for bipartisanship in an increasingly divisive political culture.
“I think that what you can take from this governor’s race is a negative example of how to really address someone who disagrees with you,” he said. “I think as Georgetown students, we can take that lesson and apply it to things we do on our own campus. Different groups on campus may not be very tolerant to each other, but if they look at this governor’s race, they can see that when people just yell at each other, it’s not the best of dialogues.”
