Virginia is the only state in the country where an incumbent governor is forbidden from running for re-election. But, there's no prohibition against former governors returning to the Executive Mansion.
At the Capitol in Richmond, portraits of all the recent former governors hang on the third floor. And, there's only one former governor that has two portraits.
"I, Mills Edwin Godwin Junior.
"Swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States."
Mills Godwin was first elected as a Democrat in 1965. But by the time he decided to return to the Executive Mansion, politics in Virginia had shifted. So when he ran for a second term in 1973, he was a Republican.
Flash forward to 2021. Now former Governor Terry McAuliffe is seeking a second, non-consecutive term. He officially announced his campaign Wednesday after mulling the decision for months.
Mark Rozell at George Mason University says like Godwin, McAuliffe is going to need to reinvent himself for the current context.
"Now you have a Democratic-controlled legislature; the Democratic Party has moved to the more progressive side of the political spectrum," Rozell explains. "And he's going to be running as a true-blue progressive Democrat this time, not as a centrist."
McAuliffe's first term as a centrist who was friendly to business interests will feature in the Democratic primary for governor, and McAuliffe is joining an existing field of candidates who’ve already filed paperwork to run for governor: Jennifer McClellan, Justin Fairfax, Jennifer Carroll Foy, and Lee Carter.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
