Virginia law prevents a governor from succeeding himself.
Only once has a former Governor run for that office, having been out
for one term.
That was when he decided to run as a Republican, having previously been elected as a Democrat.
The legal ban was sound reasoning.
Now, with the law permitting unlimited campaign contributions from corporations, et. al., there is a seeming advantage to those who have assembled power and influence while in office to leap frog from one administration to a same or similar; thus accomplishing the very thing that our constitution sought to prevent.
The disadvantages to minority and women candidates speaks volumes.
Former Governor Terry McAuliffe has announced his candidacy for the 2021 Democratic primary for Governor.
There are currently three candidates who have announced their intention to run for that office. They ALL are African Americans, including two women.
No Democrat, in recent times, has won an election in Virginia without strong minority votes, as was the case when McAuliffe, who had never been elected to ANY office, was elected Governor.
Why should he expect that vote to be there for him in 2021 having shown such little appreciation for it?
Doubtless, he’ll offer the job of Lt. Governor to one of the women candidates, which also allows current Governor Northam to run again in four years.
“You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”
Stay tuned.
