前州长特里·麦考利夫仍在进行中为了赢回他原来的工作，在弗吉尼亚的五名候选人中名列前茅民主党州长初选周二，美联社预测。

11月，麦考利夫将面对特朗普支持的共和党人格伦·扬金，他是一名成功的商人和政治新人，在弗吉尼亚共和党的排名选择投票中赢得了提名“未装配”惯例五月。

麦考利夫战胜了州参议员詹妮弗·麦克莱伦和前总统德尔。詹妮弗·卡罗尔·福伊，意思是弗吉尼亚不会创造历史11月选举了美国第一位黑人女州长。他还击败了副州长贾斯汀·费尔法克斯(Justin费尔法克斯)，这是第二位当选为联邦州级官员的非洲裔美国人，他的竞选活动因2019年的性侵犯指控而受阻费尔法克斯否认。特拉华河李·卡特，一个不怕与自己的政党作对的进步人士，是选票上的另一个候选人。

鲍勃·布朗/里士满时报-通过美联社发送

弗吉尼亚州州长拉尔夫·诺瑟姆(左二)谈到他在民主党内的支持

自去年12月宣布竞选以来，在2014年至2018年期间首次担任联邦最高行政长官的麦考利夫一直处于领先地位，尽管他的对手们提出，特别是在最后一段时间，他不是弗吉尼亚民主党本周期的合适候选人，但他在整个初选中保持了这一地位。

“麦考利夫勉强赢得了他的选举卡罗尔·福伊上周告诉美国广播公司新闻，“在2013年与极端的特朗普共和党人的竞选中，所以我确实认为，如果我们让麦考利夫作为候选人进入11月，我们将危及我们(众议院)的多数席位和州长职位。”

2013年，麦考利夫在州长官邸击败了当时的弗吉尼亚州司法部长肯·库茨内利。Cuccinelli后来送达在特朗普政府中担任美国公民和移民服务部代理主任，然后担任国土安全部代理副部长。

扬金已经计划将卡罗尔·福伊对麦考利夫的批评武器化，反对提名人。

他的竞选团队将于周三推出新的电视和数字广告。其中一个30秒的点卡罗尔·福伊反复抨击麦考利夫，在某一点上说，“他辜负了弗吉尼亚人民，那么为什么他值得第二次机会?”

卡罗尔·福伊在最后一段提到自己的候选人资格时说:“我们需要一个新的领导人来推动弗吉尼亚前进，而不是后退。”。

但广告接着切入杨金，说，“一种新的领导者，给弗吉尼亚带来新的一天。”

虽然2013年麦考利夫和库茨内利仅以3.5个百分点的差距获胜，但民主党的胜利打破了所谓的“弗吉尼亚诅咒”，即如果候选人与现任白宫主人有相同的党派关系，他们将在英联邦的非年度州长竞选中失败。

由于弗吉尼亚州独特的法律禁止州长连任，麦考利夫无法在2017年寻求连任。拉尔夫·诺森州长在4月份认可了他的前任——也是潜在的继任者。

但是自从麦考利夫在2013年获胜后，弗吉尼亚变得更蓝了——尽管该州的政治观察家警告民主党人不要太舒服。

通过盖蒂图像的华盛顿邮报

竞选弗吉尼亚州州长的共和党人格伦·扬金在一次会议上对选民说

2016年，当时的候选人唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)以大约5个百分点的优势输掉了被认为是总统战场的联邦，但在2020年，他的败选率几乎翻了一番。当时的副州长诺瑟姆以10比1击败了共和党人埃德·吉莱斯皮将近九点。两年后，民主党20多年来首次控制了州立法机构，给该党带来了一个“三连胜”的政府。

作为乔·拜登总统就职以来的第一次重大竞选，11月的选举将考验弗吉尼亚的蓝色浪潮是彻底拒绝共和党人，还是与特朗普更紧密地联系在一起。

“弗吉尼亚仍然很有竞争力，”弗吉尼亚大学政治中心的创始人和主任拉里·萨巴托在五月份共和党大会前告诉美国广播公司新闻。“问题是(共和党候选人)在特朗普身上创造了自己的记录。他们只说了积极的事情——积极到非常积极。...特里·麦考利夫已经在这个街区逛过几次了。他知道如何将他们与特朗普联系起来。”

特朗普今年秋天可能不会出现在选票上或白宫，但自杨金获得提名以来，麦考利夫、他的竞选团队和弗吉尼亚州民主党(DPVA)一直在努力做到这一点。

周一，弗吉尼亚州民主党人发起了一场名为“特朗普在哪里领导，格伦在哪里跟随”的新闻之旅，驱散了英联邦各地的政党领导人和活动人士，以抨击杨金，特别是他的核心竞选支柱“选举诚信”，并将他与特朗普和前总统关于选举是从他那里“窃取”的“弥天大谎”联系起来。

Terry McAuliffe, former Virginia governor vying for old job, wins Democratic primary

Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe isstill in the runningto win back his old job, coming out on top among the five candidates competing in Virginia'sDemocratic gubernatorial primaryTuesday, the Associated Press projected.

In November, McAuliffe will face Trump-endorsed Republican Glenn Youngkin, a successful businessman and political newcomer who won the nomination at the Virginia GOP's rank-choice voting"unassembled" conventionin May.

McAuliffe prevailed over state Sen. Jennifer McClellan and former Del.Jennifer Carroll Foy, which means Virginiawon't make historyin November by electing the nation's first Black woman governor. He also beat Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, only the second African American elected to statewide office in the commonwealth whose campaign was hampered by 2019 sexual assault allegations, whichFairfax denied. Del. Lee Carter, a progressive unafraid to buck his own party, was the other candidate on the ballot.

Since announcing his campaign in December, McAuliffe, who first served as the commonwealth's top executive between 2014 and 2018, was the front-runner -- a status he held onto throughout the primary campaign despite his opponents making the case, especially in the final stretch, that he was not the right candidate for Virginia Democrats this cycle.

"McAuliffe barely won hiselectionin 2013 against an extreme Trump Republican, so I do believe that we jeopardize our (House of Delegates) majority and the governorship if we put up McAuliffe as a nominee going into November," Carroll Foy told ABC News last week.

In 2013, McAuliffe won the governor's mansion against then-Attorney General of Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli. Cuccinellilater servedin the Trump administration as acting director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services and then acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

Youngkin is already planning to weaponize Carroll Foy's criticism of McAuliffe against the nominee.

His campaign is launching new TV and digital ads Wednesday. One of the 30-second spotsfeatures Carroll Foyrepeatedly blasting McAuliffe, at one point saying, "He failed the people of Virginia, so why does he deserve a second chance?"

"We need a new leader who will move Virginia forward and not back," Carroll Foy says in the last clip, referring to her own candidacy.

But the ad then cuts to Youngkin saying, "A new kind of leader to bring a new day to Virginia."

While only 3.5 points separated McAuliffe and Cuccinelli in 2013, the Democrat's victory broke the so-called "Virginia curse" of candidates losing the commonwealth's off-year gubernatorial race if they had the same party affiliation as the current occupant of the White House.

McAuliffe was unable to seek reelection in 2017, due to a unique Virginia law that bars governors from serving consecutive terms. Gov. Ralph Northam endorsed his predecessor -- and potential successor -- in April.

But since McAuliffe's 2013 victory, Virginia has trended bluer -- though political observers in the state warn Democrats shouldn't get too comfortable.

In 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump lost the commonwealth, which was considered a presidential battleground, by about five points, but in 2020, his losing margin nearly doubled. Northam, then-lieutenant governor, beat Republican Ed Gillespie bynearly nine points. Two years later, Democrats took control of the state legislature for the first time in over 20 years, delivering the party a government "trifecta."

As the first major contest since President Joe Biden's inauguration, November's election will test whether Virginia's blue wave was a rejection of Republicans outright or more closely tied to Trump.

"Virginia is still competitive," Larry Sabato, the founder and director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, told ABC News in May ahead of the GOP convention. "The problem is (the GOP candidates) created a record for themselves on Trump. They have only said positive things -- positive to very positive. ... Terry McAuliffe has been around the block a few times. He knows how to link them to Trump."

Trump may not be on the ballot or in the White House this fall, but since Youngkin's nomination, McAuliffe, his campaign and the Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA) have worked to do exactly that.

On Monday, Virginia Democrats launched a press tour called, "Where Trump Leads, Glenn Follows," dispersing party leaders and activists across the commonwealth to blast Youngkin, especially his central campaign pillar of "election integrity," and connect him to Trump and the former president's "big lie" that election was "stolen" from him.