Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe (D-VA) greets supporters after speaking during a night election rally after winning the Democratic primary for governor on June 8, 2021 in McLean, Virginia.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images
Terry McAuliffe travels to New York on a fundraiser that will attract some of the Democratic Party’s wealthiest donors as he prepares for what is likely to be an expensive general election campaign to reclaim the governor of Virginia.
McAuliffe, who won the Democratic nomination for governor on Tuesday, arrives in the Big Apple later this month. New York businessman and Democratic donor Dennis Mehiel will meet McAuliffe at an event at his home, according to an invitation from CNBC.
The rally is scheduled for June 17 and will be one of McAuliffe’s first personal fundraisers since winning the party’s nomination. McAuliffe was governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018, ahead of fellow countryman Ralph Northam. Politicians cannot serve consecutive terms in Virginia.
Tickets start at $ 1,000 and go up to $ 5,000. Other prominent figures on the host committee are Mike Kempner, a PR manager who founded the media work juggernaut MWW; Tonio Burgos, the CEO of the TBA lobbying shop; Jill Iscol, a longtime advisor to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton; and Sam Nappi, the chairman of Alliance Energy.
The fundraiser is expected to be a “small event with decent individual contributions,” Mehiel said. He referred a request for further comments to the McAuliffe campaign, which did not respond to an email asking for comment. Mehiel is close to President Joe Biden.
The New York fundraiser comes as the Virginia gubernatorial race enters an expensive phase. McAuliffe himself is a prolific fundraiser and has deep connections with the Clinton family.
Glenn Youngkin, McAuliffe’s Republican opponent and former manager of the Carlyle Group, has announced plans to raise $ 75 million for his candidacy for governor. Data from the Virginia Public Access Project shows that Youngkin has already loaned his campaign over $ 12 million. His campaign raised nearly $ 16 million by May.
According to Medium Buying, the Youngkin campaign has spent a little over $ 1 million on ads since winning the Republican nomination.
McAuliffe has raised nearly $ 15 million in total, according to The Washington Post.
