In a one-time conservative 'red' state whose map now looks pock-marked with 'blue' enclaves, Terry McAuliffe, the former Democratic National Committee chairman and long-time Clinton confidante, won a close governor's election Tuesday that is expected to set the tone for broader political battles in 2014 and 2016. McAuliffe, the fundraising envelope-pusher who cooked up the idea to sell access to the Lincoln Bedroom under President Bill Clinton, is now positioned to navigate Virginia into the Democratic Party's column when Hillary Clinton runs for the top job in 2016. The governor-elect had held solid double-digit polling leads over Ken Cuccinelli, the state's tea party-backed Republican attorney general. But ultimately fewer than 55,000 votes – out of more than 2.2 million cast – separated the two hard-charging men.
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Clinton's White House money man, Terry McAuliffe dreamed up a way to tap donors for more cash by offering them nights in the Lincoln Bedroom
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His rise to the governor's mansion in Richmond will cement the Clintons' chances to turn Virginia 'blue' if – or when – Hillary runs in 2016
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The Obamas and Clintons stumped for McAuliffe, helping him overwhelm state AG Ken Cuccinelli's reliance on Sen. Ted Cruz and other tea partiers
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McAuliffe's campaign vastly outspent the GOP on broadcast ads, including many that cast Cuccinelli as anti-woman and anti-Hispanic
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A third-party Libertarian candidate who ultimately split the GOP was funded by a top Obama campaign bundler, raising Republicans' cries of dirty pool
McAuliffe, like all @placeholder governors, will be a short-term winner: The state limits its top political executives to a single term in office.