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Who better to predict what the next governor of Virginia will confront when they take office next year than two career politicians who have held the seat?
In a George Mason University exclusive, former Virginia governors Bob McDonnell (R) and Terry McAuliffe (D) took the stage at Fuse at Mason Square on Monday, September 29, for a 90-minute conversation focusing on the current gubernatorial campaigns of Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears (R) and former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D) and looking ahead at the challenges that await the victor of the November election.
The conversation was moderated by Schar School of Policy and Government dean Mark J. Rozell. McDonnell and McAuliffe are Distinguished Visiting Professors of Practice in the Schar School, which cosponsored the event with University Life Mason Square.
The event, one of University Life’s Pizza and Perspectives series of academic discussions, was attended by more than 100 students, faculty, alumni, and community members.
The conversation danced around the elephant in the room—the policies of the current White House administration—with McDonnell pointing out that despite the national headlines, the role of the governor is “always the same. It’s education. It’s crime. It’s taxes and transportation infrastructure. But overlaying all of this is leadership. It comes down to who has the best vision for the next four years.”
The conversation addressed domestic and state investment, economics, education, employment, defense, and other topics important to the election until McAuliffe admitted that “I have a rule now if I go to dinner, you don’t mention [President Donald] Trump’s name.”
That led to a discussion about what to expect on Election Day, November 4, when every seat in the commonwealth state house is up for grabs.
“Everybody votes presidential,” McAuliffe said of the expected turnout. “Then you have the midterms and it drops dramatically because people aren’t thinking about politics. But with what’s going on at the White House today, people are thinking about it every day. … I think you’re going to see a very significant turnout in this year’s election, which should really help in the House of Delegate races.
“People are so fed up; they’re going to vote. I think you’re going to see a huge turnout this year that you don’t normally see.”