RICHMOND, VIRGINIA– There may be another McAuliffe representing Virginia soon.
Dorothy McAuliffe — a former first lady, former State Department official and wife of then-Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe — said Wednesday she would do so. Run for Congressputting a prominent name into the mix for the newly mapped area.
“We need a leader with a record of achievement who can finally cut costs for families, will increase access to affordable health care, and will never back down from holding Donald Trump and ICE accountable,” McAuliffe said in a statement.
Voters in Virginia are The weight of the constitutional amendment It would create a new congressional map on April 21.
If the map is approved, McAuliffe will campaign to represent the sprawling 7th District, which stretches from Arlington to western Augusta County. Most of the district’s voters will live just outside Washington, D.C., and it is one of four new districts intended to favor Democrats.
“I look forward to traveling this region — from Arlington to Augusta and from Prince William to Powhatan — and sharing this vision for this community I have always called home,” she said.
A lawyer and mother of five, McAuliffe was Virginia’s first lady from 2014 to 2018. During that time, she pushed for child nutrition programs and helped address the state’s backlog of untested rape kits.
In 2017, the former first lady considered challenging former Republican U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock Choose against attempt. She became the US State Department’s Special Representative for Global Partnerships in 2022 under President Joe Biden’s administration.
McAuliffe enters a crowded primary. Last month, it was Virginia Del. Dan Helmer, a former four-term incumbent Federal Prosecutor J.B. Cooneywho served as Deputy Special Counsel Jack Smith and was fired by Trump, has launched campaigns in the district. State Rep. Elizabeth Guzman, who was elected as the first Latina immigrant to the General Assembly, also said she is considering running.
McAuliffe and the other candidates will have a chance to change their plans if the redistricting effort is not approved or rejected by the state Supreme Court.
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McAuliffe’s spelling has been corrected in one reference.