Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said he won't have a discussion about naming a potential replacement for Tim Kaine until after the election. | Getty McAuliffe: I’ve had 8 best friends tell me they should replace Kaine

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s closest friends are all vying to replace Tim Kaine.

With the senator joining Hillary Clinton’s ticket, McAuliffe has the authority to name a temporary replacement to fill Kaine’s Senate seat.


“Well, I've already had about eight best friends call me up and say they should be the next United States senator,” a smiling McAuliffe told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Tuesday. “What I've tried to tell everybody, Erin, in fairness, I will not even have a discussion until we win this election because, I mean, we gotta do that.”

Virginia will hold a gubernatorial election next year to replace McAuliffe, who is term-limited, but the governor predicted “a huge turnout” in that off-year election “because the fate of the Senate” depends on it.

“I’ll tell you why it’s important for Virginia: Next year we have the governor's race, lieutenant governor, attorney general,” he explained. “It will make that Senate seat, maybe control of the United States Senate. So all of those voters who drop off — when President Obama ran it was about 73, 74 percent turnout. It then goes down into the 40s for the governor’s race next year. We will have a huge turnout because the fate of the Senate will be Virginia next year, which is so important for us.”