The Clintons are going all in for their old friend Terry McAuliffe.
Just one day after Hillary Clinton stumped for the Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Bill Clinton announced he too will hit the campaign trail.
In a press release, the McAuliffe campaign said Clinton would embark on a three-day tour, kicking off on October 27. The former president is expected to discuss “the clear choice facing Virginia voters between Terry McAuliffe’s mainstream plan to create jobs and invest in education and Ken Cuccinelli’s extreme ideological agenda.”
Details of the events were not announced.
With less than three weeks left until the election, McAuliffe is polling ahead of his Republican opponent, Ken Cuccinelli.
The Democrat’s lead has been steadily growing, thanks to a widening gender gap. A recent NBC4/NBC News Marist poll showed McAuliffe ahead of Cuccinelli by eight points. But his lead with women is now at 20 points.
On Saturday, Hillary Clinton appeared beside McAuliffe in Falls Church, Virginia, where she offered him a warm endorsement in her first explicitly political event since leaving the State Department.
“Terry has maybe the biggest heart and most open mind of anyone you’ll ever meet,” she said. “Terry has always been there for me and I’m pleased to be here for him.”
McAuliffe has a long history with the Clintons. He was chairman of Bill Clinton’s 1996 presidential campaign, and served as co-chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
While Clinton didn’t mention Cuccinelli by name during her speech, she warned voters about the GOP’s war on women and emphasized that McAuliffe would work to protect women’s rights.
“The whole country is watching to see whether the rights of women and girls will be respected, especially over our own bodies and our health care,” she said.
Melissa Jeltsen