AAPI Victory Fund Congratulates Terry McAuliffe for a Hard-fought Gubernatorial Race

WASHINGTON —Last night, Terry McAuliffe lost the closely contested race to become Virginia’s next governor. In June of this year, AAPI Victory Fund endorsed former governor McAuliffe for his commitment to Virginia AAPIs. AAPI Victory Fund applauds candidate McAuliffe on a hard-fought campaign. AAPI Victory Fund Founder and Chairman Shekar Narasimhan issued the following statement: “While we are disappointed that Terry McAuliffe did not win the Virginia gubernatorial election, we congratulate him on a hard-fought campaign. We look forward to McAuliffe’s continued allyship and are eager to see how he turns this loss into yet another opportunity to grow and support Virginia’s next generation of leaders. “Unfortunately, with McAuliffe’s loss comes national consequences. As we approach 2022 midterms, the state of American democracy rests in five gubernatorial elections alone. Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nevada are the five states that saw narrow margins in the 2020 presidential race, and where Republican legislatures stand the strongest chance of shifting the Electoral College results to their advantage. Come 2022, whoever wields the veto pen in those states will be the last line of defence in preventing voter suppression, and AAPI votes will be critical in every one of those states. We need early and significant support to ensure that AAPI voters are the margin of victory in 2022. “As we look ahead, we hope to see many more candidates like McAuliffe, and remind them that all votes matter. AAPI voters have been pivotal in Virginia since 2014, and in 2020 in several more states including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nevada. Overlooking the AAPI electorate will hurt progressive candidates and causes in the future.”

# # # The AAPI Victory Fund is focused on mobilizing Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) eligible voters and moving them to the ballot box.