Terry McAuliffe: Five things to know about the Democratic candidate for Virginia governor

Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe will face off against Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin on Nov. 2 after weeks of tense campaigning on education, COVID-19 and the economy. Here's who he is.

McAuliffe served as co-chairman of the 1996 Bill Clinton presidential campaign. He raised eyebrows by agreeing to guarantee a $1.35 million mortgage for the Clintons' house in Chappaqua, New York, a move that enabled Hillary Clinton to have a base for her New York Senate run in 2000. Clinton was $5 million in debt at the time.

McAuliffe went on to become the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005 and the chairman of Hillary Clinton's failed 2008 presidential campaign. 

After an unsuccessful run for Virginia governor in 2009, McAuliffe won the 2013 election, serving as governor from 2014 to 2018. 

McAuliffe has boasted about his economic prowess, claiming that during his term, he helped create 200,000 jobs, raised personal income by 14%, and cut unemployment to 3.3%. Yet during his tenure, Virginia's economic growth rate lagged behind the rest of the country. Compared to Virginia's seven governors before him, McAuliffe's jobs numbers put him in the middle of the pack. 

Similarly, McAuliffe has repeatedly bragged that he "inherited the largest budget deficit in the history of the state from the Republicans" and left a surplus. The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler gave the Democrat "Four Pinocchios" for this claim, noting that his predecessor left a balanced budget.