Outgoing Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe turned over the governor’s mansion to his replacement, newly inaugurated Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam, but not before leaving some last-minute surprises.
When Northam arrived at the mansion Saturday night after his inauguration, he was greeted by two pillows featuring large images of McAulliffe’s smiling face and accompanied by a note reading, “sleep when you’re dead.”
Northam, who handily defeated GOP candidate Ed Gillespie in November, told The Washington Post that the pillows were just one of many finishing touches that McAuliffe put on the mansion before departing after his four-year tenure.
“There are pictures of the governor all over the mansion that he left for me,” Northam said. “Also, at 3 o’clock this morning, an alarm clock went off, which I have yet to find. I texted him and thanked him, and he said there was more to come.”
McAuliffe may have borrowed the alarm clock trick from former GOP Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, who left one for McAuliffe on his way out.
Apparently the pictures and alarm clock were not sufficient, as McAuliffe finished off the multi-layer prank by leaving a stuffed bear in the Northam’s private bathroom.
McAuliffe’s antics are in keeping with a long Virginia gubernatorial tradition. Former Gov. Tim Kaine left cellphones in the Mansion’s elevator shafts and called them regularly until McDonnell’s staff found them, and before that, now Sen. Mark Warner capped off his governorship by leaving a life-sized cutout of his head in the shower for Kaine to find.
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