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The Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance (VTCA) PAC announced their endorsement of Terry McAuliffe Monday morning. Within their letter that was sent to VTCA members, one of the reasons they cited for endorsing him was the assurance they received from McAuliffe that he will not repeal right-to-work laws.
“I am extremely proud to be endorsed by the Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance. As Virginia’s 72nd Governor, I made addressing the Commonwealth’s transportation challenges one of my number one priorities, and we made tremendous progress working in a bipartisan way,” McAuliffe said in a statement Monday morning.
VTCA only touted McAuliffe’s former experience in the formal announcement. “Terry’s previous experience as Virginia Governor demonstrates that he understands the significance of a best-in-class transportation network to help attract the best businesses in the country,” said Gordon Dixon, Executive Vice President of the Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance.
A separate letter from the president of VTCA, Jon Harman, and the chairman of the affiliated PAC, Rick James, to their members explained their endorsement more in depth. “Following extensive and thoughtful discussion, the PAC determined that the candidate best aligned with our industry’s interests and best suited to solve our transportation construction issues is former Governor Terry McAuliffe,” they wrote.
They continued in the letter to cite McAuliffe’s experience, pro-business approach, and assurance that he will not repeal right-to-work laws as their reasoning. “While questions have been raised about Terry’s position to preserve RTW, our leadership has been personally assured that RTW is NOT going away while he is Governor, and his history supports that position,” Harman and James wrote.
McAuliffe indicated during the Democratic primary earlier this year that he would support repealing right-to-work laws in Virginia. He has since walked that back and said right-to-work is not going anywhere during the last debate. The right-to-work law keeps unions from requiring membership at a place of employment, which prevents the employees from effectively unionizing. Employees can still form a union, but they are not compelled to and employers are always free to hire non-union workers.
“The VTCA is just the most recent victim to fall prey to Terry McAuliffe’s lies about his position on right-to-work,” said Christian Martinez, a spokesperson for Glenn Youngkin, the Republican gubernatorial nominee.
“I will continue to invest in infrastructure and build the best-in-the-nation transportation and construction workforce to move Virginia forward and meet our transportation and transit needs,” McAuliffe said Monday.
The race is tight in with three weeks to as McAuliffe continues to show a slight lead within the margin of error for most polls.
Election day is Nov 2.
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