Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry Mcauliffe said in his victory speech on primary night that he wants to make sure the minimum wage in Virginia reaches $15/hr in three years. He reiterated that in a recent interview with WJLA.
In that same article, the Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin said the opposite. “We know for a fact that when you impose a $15 minimum wage broadly across Virginia, we are going to lose jobs,” he said. “We must get our economy open, we have to carve back the mounds of red tape that have been piled on businesses. And I believe our small businesses and entrepreneurialism in Virginia has been absolutely crushed. And therefore, I believe a tax holiday for small businesses is warranted in helping them get back on their feet.”
Now McAuliffe and the Democratic Party of Virginia are on the offensive over Youngkin’s comments. “Glenn Youngkin’s opposition to raising the minimum wage shows who he really is: an extreme, right-wing Trump Republican with no plans to help Virginia families,” McAuliffe said in a statement Thursday night.
McAuliffe and Democrats are not shying away from tying Youngkin to Trump — something they have been doing since Youngkin won the nomination in early May.
During opening statements in the gubernatorial debate, McAuliffe sounds like he is already running against Youngkin, while the other candidates are trying to separate themselves from their fellow Democratic candidates.
— Brandon Jarvis (@Jaaavis) June 1, 2021
Another point that McAuliffe seems to have zeroed in on is the lack of policy content coming from the Youngkin campaign. “Virginians deserve experienced leadership with a track record of creating good jobs and lifting people up, but all Glenn has is one ‘plan’ based on Donald Trump’s conspiracy theory about the 2020 election.“
So far, Youngkin has focused his campaign mainly on his business success at The Carlyle Group and opposing Democratic control. Besides a tab for building an election integrity task force, Youngkin’s campaign website does not show any policy ideas or stances.
The Youngkin campaign did not respond to additional requests for comment.