Terry McAuliffe has lived in the Commonwealth of Virginia for nearly 20 years. Terry and his wife Dorothy chose Virginia as their home because of the great opportunities and quality of life that Virginia has to offer. They live with their five children in Fairfax County, where they attend St. Luke Catholic Church.

Terry campaigns for Mark Warner during the 2001 governor's race.

As Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Terry invested unprecedented resources in Virginia Democrats’ grassroots political infrastructure. In 2001, when Mark Warner ran for Governor, the DNC gave $1.5 million to support Virginia Democrats up and down the ballot. In 2005, when Tim Kaine ran for governor, the DNC gave $5 million to Virginia Democrats – which, at the time, was the single largest donation of its kind from the national party.

During the summer of 2008, Terry toured 30 localities in Virginia on behalf of Barack Obama. He led forums and policy debates, canvass kick-offs, Get-Out-the-Vote rallies, and made numerous radio and television appearances. Terry was honored to be part of the effort that led to Obama becoming the first Democratic Presidential candidate to carry the Commonwealth since 1964.

In 2009, Terry decided to run for governor of Virginia on the platform that, “Good ideas come from all corners of the Commonwealth, not just Richmond.” During the campaign, he hosted economic roundtables across Virginia, bringing together hundreds of business and community leaders, including experts and concerned citizens in fields like energy, transportation, education, community service, film production and tourism to help generate new and innovative policy ideas. Additionally, he brought the dialogue online, and over one thousand Virginians wrote in to share their input. Terry realized that people who deal with challenges day-to-day often have the best ideas to overcome them. He used those ideas to craft a 131-page business plan to govern – a blueprint for Virginia.

Indeed, Terry put forward big out-of-the-box ideas to shake up Richmond. For example, he was the first gubernatorial candidate to ever propose banning all gifts from lobbyists and completely shutting down the payday lending industry. He refused to take any campaign contributions from companies that had received federal bailout funds, and he wouldn’t take a penny from Dominion Power unless they agreed to support his proposal for a mandatory renewable energy standard.

Terry on his announcement tour in January, 2009.

Upon entering the race for governor, McAuliffe promised to run a positive issue oriented campaign and pledged not to personally attack any of his Democratic primary opponents. The Richmond Times Dispatch wrote that "McAuliffe invites other contenders to focus on issues of genuine substance rather than petty personal attacks and cheap, zinger-of-the-day point-scoring." The newspaper said that "his substantive pitches have raised expectations and pointed the way toward a different, more high-toned campaign."

Ultimately, Terry came in 2nd place in a three-way primary. In his concession speech he said he had no regrets. Saying “it sure has been quite the ride,” he pledged to go to work to help the Democratic nominee, Creigh Deeds, as well as Virginia Democrats up and down the ticket.

Terry made good on his word. In addition to the personal financial contributions he made to the all three statewide Democrats, Terry worked to mobilize the grassroots network that he built during the primary on behalf of the Democratic ticket. He sent hundreds of thousands of emails urging his supporters to help. He made the case for Virginia Democrats on both national television and the campaign trail, including coordinating a rally with President Bill Clinton. Additionally, Terry raised more than $125,000 to help elect Democrats to the House of Delegates.

Terry continues to be a force in Virginia politics to this day. Recently, he helped mobilize his supporters for Dave Marsden’s successful campaign in the special election for the state Senate’s 37th district. He also joined Republican former Governor and US Senator George Allen at an event before the Richmond Crusade for Voters to advocate eliminating a bureaucratic technicality in the IRS code that is blocking the creation of upwards of 25,000 Virginia jobs, effectively forcing tens of thousands of the state's children to go schools educators admit are rapidly deteriorating if not already obsolete. Such a revision to the IRS code would unlock millions of dollars of investments to rebuild Virginia’s aging schools.

Since his run for governor, Terry has several new projects in development, focusing his efforts on the economic and environmental benefits of renewable energy sources. Specifically, he has made an offer to buy the shuttered International Paper plan in the city of Franklin Virginia for the purpose of creating a renewable biomass facility. Additionally, Terry serves as Chairman of Green Tech Automotive, which manufactures electronic and hybrid vehicles. He also recently joined the board of advisors of IMC, inc. an internationally recognized systems and software development firm based in Northern Virginia.