Terry McAuliffe Skips Campaign Events Days Before Election

Virginia gubernatorial candidate and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) appeared to cancel or skip campaign events only days before Tuesday’s bellwether election.

McAuliffe, on Thursday night, did not show up for a “Get Out the Vote” (GOTV) event in Prince William County.

Instead, the candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Del. Hala Ayala, appeared in McAuliffe’s place. Following the recent trend of Virginia Democrat candidates having low turnout at campaign events, Ayala seemed to be speaking before a smaller crowd.

I started my day by voting for Democrats up and down the ballot and ended my day surrounded by friends, mentors & fellow activists in Prince William County.

PWC, you are my family. Thank you for always showing up for me. 💙 pic.twitter.com/SN6rblKlNM

— Hala Ayala (@HalaAyala) October 29, 2021

Always here for @HalaAyala !!!! pic.twitter.com/uXaHf8bhmv

— Delegate Candi Mundon King (she/her) (@CandiKingForHD2) October 29, 2021

McAuliffe evidently did not appear at an event on Friday either. The event was supposed to be a part of his scheduled GOTV bus tour at a brewery in Alexandria, Virginia.

The Democrat candidate claimed he could not attend due to “weather.” Still, a small crowd gathered inside the brewery waiting for him to show up, according to a Just the News political correspondent, who published the video on social media. 

Video from the GOTV event today in Alexandria where McAuliffe cancelled his scheduled appearance #news #politics #Virginia pic.twitter.com/lBy5RvFXJC

— Nicholas A Ballasy (@NicholasBallasy) October 29, 2021

CNN’s Dan Merica recently reported that McAuliffe’s campaign feels “tense” leading up to the race’s final days. Merica noted that the crowds McAuliffe is seeing at the events he’s holding are not the typical “fired up crowd” that is usually seen days before an election.

“It still says something about this race that McAuliffe has had to call on a number of top Democrats to come down here to rally the troops,” Mercia said, talking about former President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris who have all campaigned in Virginia in recent days.

Politico reported Cari Berlin, who worked as the regional GOTV director for Virginia Democrats, left her critical role four days before the election to work on Capitol Hill as a scheduler for Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA).

A recent poll from Fox News revealed that Youngkin pulled ahead of McAuliffe by eight points with the election less than a week away. Youngkin’s momentum changed, showing him at 53 percent to 45 percent among likely voters. This was a major change from roughly two weeks ago when McAuliffe led by 11 points with likely voters, 52-41 percent.

Another poll from co/efficient showed Youngkin in the lead as well. The Republican has 47 percent support among likely voters compared to the Democrat’s 43 percent of support among likely voters.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter.

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