RICHMOND, Va. - Terry McAuliffe, the former Democratic National Committee chairman and aide for Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton, was sworn in as Virginia’s 72nd governor on a mild and rainy Saturday.
In an inaugural address on the south portico of the state Capitol designed by Thomas Jefferson, McAuliffe emphasized bipartisanship as he put several years of campaigning behind him to begin the more challenging task of leading a politically divided government. Republicans have firm control of the House of Delegates, while the outcome of two special elections will determine control of the Senate.
“Common ground doesn’t move toward us; we move toward it,” McAuliffe told a drenched crowd that included the Clintons, who huddled under a black umbrella until the rain stopped and the sun briefly peeked out during the new governor’s speech.
The state will face “serious economic headwinds” over the next four years, McAuliffe said, and skeptics are predicting partisan gridlock.
“Virginia, together, we will prove them wrong again,” he said.
It was one of several references to consensus building McAuliffe sprinkled throughout a 16-minute speech thatdrew praise from Hillary Clinton.
“I was very moved by it,” she said after the ceremony.
The former secretary of state called McAuliffe’s election “a great personal achievement” and said “he is certainly relishing the moment.”
The crowd cheered as the Clintons entered and made their way to their second-row seats. The former president, shaking hands as he descended the stairs, acknowledged the crowd with a brief wave but otherwise remained in the background.
In his speech, McAuliffe made a brief pitch for one of his top legislative priorities - expanding Medicaid to about 400,000 low-income Virginians under the federal health-care overhaul. The proposal faces a tough hurdle in the GOP-controlled House.
“Like the majority of other states, we need to act on the consensus of the business community and health-care industry to accept funding that will expand health-care coverage, save rural hospitals and spur job creation,” the governor said.
His remarks promoting gay rights and abortion rights drew some of the loudest cheers. He said his administration would work to ensure equal opportunity for all “no matter whom you love” and to protect women’s rights to make their own health-care decisions.
He also commended legislators for reaching a bipartisan compromise on ethics changes prompted by the ongoing state and federal investigations into thousands of dollars in gifts and loans that outgoing Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell and his family received from Jonnie Williams, the former chief executive of dietary supplement-maker Star Scientific Inc. McAuliffe said he will ask lawmakers to “enact the strongest possible new ethics rules to hold all Virginia elected officials to the highest of standards.”
As his first official order of business, McAuliffe signed an executive order setting a $100 gift limit on executive branch members and their families, including himself, his wife, Dorothy, and their five children. The order also creates an Executive Branch Ethics Commission to ensure compliance.
Winning an office once held by Jefferson and Patrick Henry was a years-long effort by McAuliffe, who unsuccessfully sought his party’s nomination in 2009. He spent the next four years touring Virginia and campaigning, then won his first elective office by narrowly defeating Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.
The Syracuse, N.Y., native’s ticket mates also won, giving Democrats their first sweep of Virginia’s top three statewide offices in 24 years. Mark Herring was sworn in as attorney general and Ralph Northam as lieutenant governor.
Front Section, Pages 5 on 01/12/2014