As Democrats worry about a close contest in the Virginia governor's race, candidate Terry McAuliffe is turning to a popular ex-president, other political leaders and massive outreach programs to encourage turnout from a key constituency: Black voters.
As McAuliffe battles Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin in a closer-than-expected race in Virginia, the Democratic campaign is engaged in a massive effort to amp up turnout among Black voters as well as other progressives.Political scientists note that McAuliffe must do more than the same campaigning he did during his first successful run for the governor's office in 2013, when he won 90% of the Black vote.
“The Black community was very much still excited about second-term win. And then you have McAuliffe coming in campaigning at the end of that year and then 2013. In many ways, I think McAuliffe didn't have to work very hard to gain the Black vote,” Wrighten said. “A lot of Black voters were still very activated in terms of voting and paying attention to elections.”
Democrats' plans include registration drives at colleges, ads on urban radio, a "Souls to the Polls" program involving Black churches and highly publicized appearances by leaders like Obama. At one point, Obama mocked Youngkin, a businessman making his first political race, for campaign events at grocery stores and for his support from Trump: "You can't run ads telling me you're a regular old hoops-playing, dishwashing, fleece-wearing guy but quietly cultivate support from those who seek to tear down our democracy."
Among the reasons: voter burnout and the fact that Trump – whose reelection bid triggered intense voter interest in 2020 – is no longer on the ballot.Another possibility for low voter enthusiasm is that McAuliffe's victory in a Democratic primary this year prevented the party from choosing either Jennifer Carroll Foy or Jennifer McClellanA Black nominee would have injected more energy into the race, analysts said. Virginia Lt. Gov.
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