A fundraising email credited to Mary Trump sent on behalf of Virginia Democrat Terry McAuliffe raised an estimated $100,000 in a single day, McAuliffe's gubernatorial campaign said Monday.
The fundraising message from former President Donald Trump's niece was sent amongst several others from high-profile Democrats encouraging donations in support of McAuliffe as he campaigns in Virginia's gubernatorial election against Republican Glenn Youngkin, who received the former president's official endorsement in May.
McAuliffe, who previously served one term as Virginia's governor between 2014 and 2018, raised about $5.6 million more than Youngkin during the race's last fundraising cycle, according to The Associated Press. Campaign fundraising reports collected by The Virginia Public Access Project showed McAuliffe's campaign raised more than $12.6 million in September, while Youngkin's campaign raised just over $7 million during the same time period.
McAuliffe has raised an estimated $2 million since a controversial "Take Back Virginia" GOP rally in Henrico County last week, according to his campaign. The October 13 rally, which featured political strategist Steve Bannon and a telephone appearance from the former president, quickly drew criticism from Democrats due in part to a flag that attendees said was present at Trump's January 6 rally ahead of the riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The former president voiced support for Youngkin when he called into the October 13 rally, which Youngkin did not attend. After McAuliffe and sitting Virginia Governor Ralph Northam called upon Youngkin to disavow the event, he said he "had no role" in it and said it was "weird and wrong" that attendees had pledged allegiance to the flag reportedly connected to January 6.
In the days since that GOP rally, McAuliffe's campaign has sent fundraising emails from several Democrats encouraging voter support ahead of the gubernatorial election. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Virginia Senator Mark Warner, voting rights activist Stacey Abrams and political consultant James Carville are just a few of the individuals to whom the fundraising emails have been credited.
Another fundraising email from Mary Trump was sent in support of McAuliffe's campaign Monday morning. Mary Trump has been publicly critical of her uncle and published a book, titled Too Much and Never Enough, about the former president and their family a few months before the presidential election last year.
About two weeks remain until Virginia's November 2 election, one of two regularly scheduled gubernatorial elections taking place this year. Recent polling has indicated the race is tight, with polling averages compiled by FiveThirtyEight showing McAuliffe slightly ahead by about 2.9 points as of October 15.
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Meghan Roos is a Newsweek reporter based in Southern California. Her focus is reporting on breaking news for Newsweek's Live ... Read more
