Cuccinelli depicted Terry McAuliffe as a Washington insider who’s out of touch. | AP Photos Cuccinelli, McAuliffe debate heats up

HOT SPRINGS, Va. — Virginia’s gubernatorial hopefuls bashed each other for 90 minutes Saturday over jobs, the ethics scandal that’s consumed Gov. Bob McDonnell and social issues as they faced off in their first debate of the most closely-watched election of 2013.

Republican state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli depicted Terry McAuliffe, the former chair of the Democratic National Committee, as a Washington insider with a business record that’s much less impressive than the Democrat has claimed. McAuliffe painted Cuccinelli as a ideologue on social issues who should not be believed when he says his priority is jobs.


“The only person who’s abandoned or driven business out of Virginia is you, it’s you, Terry,” Cuccinelli charged. “It certainly isn’t me. Instead of putting Virginians first, you put Terry first. It’s a common theme for you.”

( Earlier on POLITICO: 5 things to watch in the Va. gov debate)

Cuccinelli scored points early on by invoking McAuliffe’s time with GreenTech, an electric car company that opened a manufacturing plant in Mississippi instead of Virginia and ultimately floundered.

“OK, so you picked Mississippi; so run for governor in Mississippi,” Cuccinelli cracked, to laughs.

McAuliffe explained the decision by repeatedly citing his “fiduciary duty” to “protect shareholders” in business, before swinging back at Cuccinelli by invoking a controversy that continues to swirl around the Republican McDonnell, touching Cuccinelli in the process.

Democrats have been stressing Cuccinelli’s initial failure to report thousands of dollars’ worth of gifts from the head of dietary supplement company Star Scientific. That’s the same company at the heart of troubles plaguing McDonnell, whose family received pricey gifts as well, triggering interest among state and federal investigators.

( PHOTOS: Ken Cuccinelli’s career)

Both candidates declined to call for McDonnell to step down, though Cuccinelli said “that question is appropriate to ask Gov. McDonnell; it is appropriate to ask him to think about it.”

A business owner has “a fiduciary duty in business to protect shareholders, a duty, frankly, you forgot, Ken, when you were taking all of these gifts from Star Scientific,” McAuliffe said. “You had a fiduciary duty, sir.”

Cuccinelli didn’t break the law, according to a top Virginia prosecutor who studied the issue, but Democrats are eager to tie the GOP nominee to the company and its CEO, Jonnie Williams, Sr.

( PHOTOS: Terry McAuliffe’s career)

“Instead of taking him to court, he was taking you to New York City…buying you [a] $1,500 turkey dinner. That’s a lot of turkey,” McAuliffe said of Williams, calling for a ban on gifts over $100. “In addition, you were buying his stock, not disclosing any of it.”

Cuccinelli said Williams never enjoyed special treatment from his office and noted that he took initiative in calling for an independent examination of his disclosures.

“Does anyone in this room think Terry McAuliffe would have ever done something like that? Of course not,” Cuccinelli said, noting that he’s released eight years of his tax returns.

Meantime, both candidates hammered home their own cases. McAuliffe underscored his bipartisan bona fides, name-checking Republicans who had endorsed him and emphasizing his 42 years in business. In his closing statement, the Democrat preached the virtues of “mainstream compromise” on issues including education and fiscal issues.

”There’s a choice between rigid ideology and mainstream compromise,” McAuliffe said.

The Republican, for his part, stressed fiscal issues, shying away from tough rhetoric on hot-button issues like abortion, contraception and gay marriage. Instead, he emphasized his commitment to lower taxes for the middle class and small businesses and reining in excessive spending, as well as his experience in state government.

“I won’t need on-the-job training,” he said in closing remarks, in which he struck an earnest tone and dropped in a “y’all.” “There’s only one person who will show up on day one, day one, not needing a little tour around state government.”

He repeatedly sought to contrast himself with McAuliffe and the Democrat’s experience with politicking.

“He’s about deals,” Cuccinelli said of his opponent. “Influence-peddling deals that favor industries of his choice, and his supporters. Look, I’ll be a governor that will fight for the middle class and not the well-connected and not the influence-peddlers.”

At the same time, Cuccinelli also looked to soften his image, referencing on several occasions his commitment to activities including volunteering at homeless shelters, coaching kids’ sports, advocating for the mentally ill and taking on sexual assault.

But throughout the debate, McAuliffe alleged that Cuccinelli has promised in previous campaigns to focus on a variety of policies, but has always pivoted back to social issues once in office.

“So he says one thing, does something else,” the Democrat said. ” Ken, you are a true Trojan horse of Virginia politics. You come in pretending to be one thing, and really are something else.”

He dismissed Cuccinelli’s emphasis on economic issues as just a cover for his social issues priorities and charged that Cuccinelli’s stances on social issues would scare businesses away.

“He can stand up here and talk about jobs, transportation,” McAuliffe said. “He’s done nothing but hurt jobs, try to stop transportation and led a very social ideological agenda against women’s health and gay Virginians.”

Cuccinelli himself didn’t walk back any of his conservative positions on social issues.

“My personal beliefs about the personal challenges of homosexuality haven’t changed,” he said at one point. “What I want to do as governor is create an environment, including an economic environment, where every Virginian has the opportunity to succeed.”

At times, he went on offense.

“The notion that because I believe marriage ought to be protected, because I believe life begins at conception — just like hundreds of thousands of independents and Democrats — this isn’t just me, it isn’t just Repulicans,” he said. “There are lots of Virginians, millions, perhaps, of Virginians, who share my sincerely held beliefs.”

Cuccinelli slammed McAuliffe’s assertion that businesses won’t locate in the state because of Cuccinelli’s views on those subjects.

The “notion that this somehow chases businesses out of Virginia would be laughable if it weren’t so utterly offensive,” he said. “If it weren’t so utterly, completely offensive.”

The two clashed on a range of other policy issues including transportation and the health care law. They may have some common ground on immigration — Cuccinelli didn’t take a position on a pathway to citizenship; McAuliffe is supportive of comprehensive reform — but the attorney general still jabbed at the Democrat on that issue, too.

He suggested that McAuliffe took advantage of a provision in immigration law to raise capital for GreenTech, but said it’s impossible to know because the candidate won’t release his full tax returns.

“I would say this is an issue where my opponent, one of the few, where he actually has policy experience,” Cuccinelli said, drawing links between immigration policies and McAuliffe’s business dealings. “It’d be nice to see what all that looks like. But we’re not getting a chance to see what all that looks like because he won’t release his tax returns, they won’t talk about this, they’re hiding this aspect of immigration law that my opponent has a lot of experience with.”

McAuliffe responded, “Sort of sad, we could have ended on a high note” with some agreement, “but it is what it is,” he added, moving on to call for an immigration deal.

The question of tax returns has been another sticking point in the campaign, with McAuliffe releasing only summaries of those statements covering a shorter span of time than the tax returns Cuccinelli has put forth.

“What have you got to hide?” Cuccinelli said on that subject. “Release your tax returns.”

The debate, at a posh resort in southwestern Virginia, was hosted by the Virginia Bar Association. Judy Woodruff of PBS NewsHour served as moderator.