Greatest hits of the Virginia governor's race (so far)

PolitiFact Virginia has had its eyes peeled for fact-checks in the state’s gubernatorial race, one of the nation’s most high-profile campaigns for 2013. Democrat Terry McAuliffe, former chair of the Democratic National Committee, has led Republican Ken Cuccinelli, the state’s attorney general, by a slim margin recently.

Now that the race is a couple of weeks away, we’re highlighting some of the most important or interesting fact-checks. The links will take you to the full fact-check and complete sources.

Heard something that needs a fact-check in the Virginia governor’s race? Email PolitiFact Virginia at [email protected]

Since Obamacare became law, "most of our new jobs have been part-time jobs." False.

-- Ken Cuccinelli, Sept. 19, 2013, in a speech

Actually, full-time jobs have grown 10 times faster than part-time jobs since Obamacare was signed into law in March 2010. We rated his claim False.

Cuccinelli tried to shut down Virginia government. Pants on Fire.

-- Terry McAuliffe, Sept. 25, 2013, in a debate

Cuccinelli wanted to strip Planned Parenthood of state funding. His  amendment tied up the Senate for several hours in 2008. But we found no evidence he was gunning for a shutdown. And no, McAuliffe hasn’t threatened to shut down state government, either. We rated McAuliffe’s claim Pants on Fire.

Cuccinelli questioned in his book whether Medicare, Social Security should exist. Mostly False.

--  Democratic Party of Virginia, July 16, 2013, in a TV ad

Cuccinelli did criticize "bad politicians" for creating programs like Medicare and Social Security, which he thinks make people dependent on government. However, Cuccinelli specifically added that he’s not questioning the existence of those programs or how much money is spent on them. We rated the ad’s claim Mostly False.

McAuliffe is under investigation. False.

-- Ken Cuccinelli, Aug. 22, 2013, in a TV ad

GreenTech Automotive, a company McAuliffe founded, is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, along with a partner company. But the candidate wasn’t contacted personally by the SEC and isn’t part of the investigation. We rated Cuccinelli’s claim False.

Virginia is No. 1 in preventing the mentally ill from buying guns. Mostly True.

-- Ken Cuccinelli, Sept. 25, 2013, in a debate

Virginia used to hold this title, but fell behind Pennsylvania last year. The state tightened its background check requirements after the Virginia Tech shooting in 2008. We rated the claim Mostly True.

Cuccinelli is the only candidate who’s introduced policies. False.

-- Ken Cuccinelli, June 11, 2013, in a news conference

McAuliffe has worked on policies regarding state government ethics reform, standardized testing in public schools and the option to eliminate some taxes on localities. We rated Cuccinelli’s claim False.

Cuccinelli wants to make all abortion illegal. Mostly False.

-- Terry McAuliffe, Sept. 17, 2013, in a TV ad

Cuccinelli supports abortion when the mother’s life is in danger. We rated McAuliffe’s claim Mostly False.

For more fact-checks from the Virginia governor's race, go to www.politifact.com/virginia.