Terry McAuliffe’s big test: Turn out black voters

In an election that polls show is his to lose, one of the last hurdles between the Democrat and the Virginia governorship is making sure African-American voters don’t stay home without President Barack Obama on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Turning out party loyalists is critical for candidates of either party in any off-year election, when voter interest tails off dramatically. Republican Ken Cuccinelli has staked what slim chance he has left of an upset on firing up the GOP base.

But the challenge is particularly pronounced for McAuliffe and blacks, who make up about a fifth of the electorate and are often the difference between victory and defeat for a Democrat running statewide in the commonwealth.

Obama lost whites to Mitt Romney by 24 points, according to exit polls, but he carried the state by 4 points because 20 percent of voters were black (and he carried 93 percent of them). Blacks comprised just 16 percent of the electorate in exit polls of the last governor’s race in 2009, which the Republican won big. McAuliffe doesn’t need to match Obama’s performance among African-American voters last year, but the dropoff cannot be too steep.


http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/terry-mcauliffe-virginia-black-voters-98885.html#ixzz2itfQ7PBA