Stacey Abrams to campaign for McAuliffe in Virginia

Former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is set to hit the campaign trail with former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) in his bid for a second term as governor of the Old Dominion. 

Abrams will campaign with McAuliffe on Sunday, where the two will attend three churches in Norfolk, Va., and take part in a “Souls to the Polls” event in the city. McAuliffe and Abrams are then slated to host a grassroots event in Northern Virginia in the afternoon. 

The Georgia Democrat’s visit comes as polls show the governor’s race, viewed as a bellwether for next year’s midterm elections, in a dead heat. A Christopher Newport University poll released last week showed McAuliffe leading Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin by 4 points, within the survey’s 4.2 percentage point margin of error. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the race as a “toss-up.” 

Abrams is seen as a major asset by those in her party, especially when it comes to turning out Black voters. Abrams was largely credited with helping flip Georgia blue in the 2020 presidential and Senate races. 

But Republicans are using the announcement to go on the attack against McAuliffe, flipping the script on the Democrat’s attacks tying Youngkin to former President Trump’s unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Republicans have long attacked Abrams for claiming her 2018 loss to Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in Georgia’s gubernatorial election was the result of voter suppression. 

“McAuliffe knows that while his team is asleep at the wheel, Republicans have the energy on our side,” said Republican Governors Association spokesperson Maddie Anderson in a statement. “His latest act of desperation is to call in Stacey Abrams, who has yet to concede her 2018 loss. This begs the question: if McAuliffe loses to Glenn Youngkin, will he concede or will he follow in the footsteps of his next surrogate?”