Politics & Government

First Lady Michelle Obama Headed to Tysons to Stump for Terry McAuliffe

Democratic candidate for governor announces sweepstakes to meet first lady Thursday.

First lady Michelle Obama will head to the Tysons Corner area this week to campaign at the Sheraton for Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who is running for governor, according to an announcement on his Facebook page.

McAuliffe, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee whose job was to raise money for the party, is raising more campaign funds for himself by holding a drawing to meet the first lady for those who made a donation of at least $5 by noon Wednesday.

The contest reads: "Please chip in $5 or more today to support my campaign -- if you donate before noon Wednesday, we’ll throw your name in the hat to meet Michelle Obama on Thursday night."

Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

An e-mail to McAuliffe's supporters about the first lady's visit to Northern Virginia's Tysons Corner area, according to the Washington Post, reads:

“Michelle is taking the time to support this campaign because the stakes couldn’t be higher for Virginians who need a Governor to put jobs first instead of pushing a divisive social agenda. And she’s committed to protecting the progress Democrats made here last year electing Senator Kaine and reelecting her husband. Michelle’s doing her part to make sure we keep Virginia blue. Will you do yours?”

Find out what's happening in Viennawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

McAuliffe's ties to the Democratic party have drawn some star power to his campaign. Former President Bill Clinton donated $100,000 to the campaign in March, according to Virginia Public Access Project. The former president also appeared at a fundraiser for McAuliffe in March in New York.

McAuliffe will face Republican Ken Cuccinelli in November. The most recent poll shows McAuliffe with a slight lead, 42 percent to 37 percent, according to Public Policy Polling.

“The Governor’s race is shaping up exactly as expected- voters don’t care for either Ken Cuccinelli or Terry McAuliffe,” said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling. “But at this point they have a bigger problem with Cuccinelli than they do with McAuliffe.”


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