RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Terry McAuliffe eased into the governor’s race Wednesday by branding himself as a pro-business pragmatist and his Republican foe as an apostle of “socially divisive issues,” after a potential rival for the Democratic nomination decided not to run.

Former Rep. Tom Perriello, a one-term Democratic congressman from Charlottesville and a favorite of his party’s progressives, announced after days of huddling with advisers that his heart wasn’t fully into a statewide election.