Terry McAuliffe plans to run for governor of Virginia again

Details: Virginia holds its gubernatorial election a year after the presidential race, and its outcome can preview where the Democratic Party is heading and how it's viewed by Americans nationally.

• This 2021 contest could expose deep divisions since it is expected to draw candidates from across the racial, gender and ideological spectrum.
• It also may mirror the brewing battle between centrists and progressives in what had been a swing state but in recent cycles has become bluer.

The big picture: Other candidates already include two female members of the state legislature — Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy and Sen. Jennifer McClellan — and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who is African American. McAuliffe, as governor from 2014 to 2018, cast himself as a pro-business, job-creating Clinton Democrat.

• He also made inroads with progressives by pushing for women's access to reproductive health, gun control and voting rights for former felons.
• His PAC is flush with cash, having raised some $1.7 million as of this summer, and he counts nearly half of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus as supporters.

Between the lines: McAuliffe had been discussed as a possible ambassador or commerce secretary in the Biden administration, but he's made it clear the job he loves the most is being Virginia's governor.

• Virginia law limits governors to a four-year term, but it also lets them run again after being out of office for four years.
• McAuliffe passed on running for president in 2020, but if he won the governor's race, he could be primed to run for president in 2024.