Gov. Terry McAuliffe

Gov. Terry McAuliffe

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Gov. Terry McAuliffe says Republicans who claim he was motivated by politics in restoring voting rights for more than 200,000 convicted felons should do something to earn the support of those newly registered voters. During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, the Democratic governor said GOP lawmakers “should be very careful at how they frame this, very careful of their rhetoric.” He noted the state’s long history of policies that prevented black people from voting when he signed the executive order on Friday. Republicans in the General Assembly have accused McAuliffe of trying to hand Virginia to his good friend Hillary Clinton in November. McAuliffe said if politics were his motivation, he could have done it last year to help Democrats control the state Senate.