Virginia Dems Try To Rewrite History On McAuliffe’s Failed Economic Record

March 22, 2017

Yesterday, Virginia Democrats sent out a release touting failed Democrat governor Terry McAuliffe’s nomination for a 2017 StateScoop 50 award, highlighting his efforts to “build a new Virginia economy” – but the numbers tell a different story.

Apparently the Commonwealth’s Democrats did not look at Virginia’s completely stagnant economic growth under McAuliffe’s leadership. In 2014, the GDP of Virginia grew by 0.0%, which ranked 48th in the United States. Virginia’s lackluster performance was described by one economics professor in a December 2016 Associated Press article:

“Folks, there’s no other way to say it: We’re being left behind,” Dr. Chip Filer, an associate professor of economics at ODU and one of the authors of the report, said at the Virginia Economic Summit in Williamsburg, hosted by the Virginia Chamber Foundation.”

Virginia has also “lost ground” every year under McAuliffe in CNBC’s top states for business rankings, a “troubling” trend caused by the Commonwealth’s stagnant job growth:

“Virginia continues to slip in a prominent ranking of the best states for doing business. The state came in at No. 13 on this year’s list of America’s Top States for Business, released late Tuesday afternoon by business-focused news channel CNBC. It was ranked the third-best place for business in 2012. This is a continuation of a troubling trend,’ said Barry DuVal, president and chief executive officer of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce. He noted how Virginia is losing ground in other national rankings, including the Forbes magazine list of the best places for business. The state came in at No. 7 last year on that list, down from No. 4 the previous year. ‘The most prominent reason is job growth in Virginia, which has trended below the national average,’ he said.”

After almost four years of stagnant economic growth under Terry McAuliffe’s leadership, Virginia Democrats are trying to cover up their failed governor’s abysmal record by flaunting undeserved awards. The Commonwealth should not reward their party’s ineffective leadership with four more years of failed economic policies under Ralph Northam or Tom Perriello.