WASHINGTON – Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe says he absolutely still supports the Democratic candidate in a key senate race, whose biography wrongly claimed he was still in the Army Reserve.
“I do, 100 percent, you bet,” McAuliffe tells WTOP.
Gary McCollum’s official biography said that he was currently a major in the Army Reserve. But Army records obtained by the Virginian Pilot show McCollum was sent a letter in March 2001, informing him of his discharge. McCollum said he had not had contact with the Army for 23 years.
The biography has since been corrected.
McCollum is running for Senate in the Virginia Beach area against Republican Sen. Frank Wagner. Wagner has served in the General Assembly for 24 years, 14 of them in the Senate. Democrats see the seat as one of their opportunities for a win next month that could flip control of the body.
Republicans currently control the chamber, 21-19. Since Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam is a Democrat and can cast tie-breaking votes, Democrats only need a net gain of one seat in the statewide election Nov. 3 to regain control.
In a new ad, McCollum attacks Republicans who have criticized the incorrect biography, and says he believed he was still part of the Individual Ready Reserve. He blames a “clerical error.”
McCollum, raised in Richmond, is the former head of Cox Communications in Virginia. Wagner, raised in Arlington, is the former president of government contracting firm, Davis Boat Works.
