The Hampton Roads Black Caucus (HRBC), a group that endorsed former Gov. Terry McAuliffe in his successful 2013 campaign, has now endorsed McAuliffe’s opponent Glenn Youngkin as the for the same position.
“I am so honored and humbled, and it just reflects the fact that there is broad-based support for a platform that’s going to bring down our cost of living and cut taxes so people can keep more of their paycheck,” Youngkin said of the endorsement.
McAuliffe is running for his second non-consecutive term as Virginia’s governor.
Winsome Sears, who is running for lieutenant governor and Jason Miyares who is running for attorney general, both Republicans, also received the HRBC endorsement.
“All three of us received the endorsement, and it just reflects the fact that Virginians are coming together in an extraordinary way and rejecting this left, liberal, progressive agenda that’s not only taking over Virginia but taking over America,” Youngkin said.
The McAuliffe campaign sparked some controversy when it was accused of belittling the HRBC.
“I love it when the Youngkin team tweets HUGE NEWS about a Republican group endorsing their Republican candidate,” Christina Freundich, a McAuliffe spokesperson, said on Twitter.
I love it when the Youngkin team tweets HUGE NEWS about a Republican group endorsing their Republican candidate https://t.co/5EpTkTrorV
— Christina Freundlich (@christinafreund) October 2, 2021
But the HRBC is not a “Republican” group, considering its past endorsements of McAuliffe, and current Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam.
Youngkin spokesman Christian Martinez blasted McAuliffe for his dismissive attitude towards the HRBC.
“40-year career politician Terry McAuliffe knows he’s losing, which is why he and his team are constantly looking to diminish any group that dares question his authority or disagrees with him,” he reportedly said. “He has yelled at a sheriff who called him out for embracing radical groups that want to defund the police, he doesn’t want parents to have a say in their children’s education, he wants employees fired if they don’t get the vaccine, and now he questions the legitimacy of a historical black organization simply for not endorsing him. Terry McAuliffe is not a leader, he was never fit to be governor in the first place.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Virginia Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Glenn Youngkin” by Glenn Youngkin CC BY-SA 2.0.
