RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — There could be another McAuliffe representing Virginia soon.
Dorothy McAuliffe — the former first lady, onetime state department official and wife of then-Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe — said Wednesday that she will run for Congress, putting a prominent name into the mix for a newly drawn district.
“We need a leader who has a record of delivering and can finally bring down costs for families, who will increase access to affordable healthcare, and who will never back down from holding Donald Trump and ICE accountable,” McAuliffe said in a statement.
Virginia voters are weighing a constitutional amendment that would create a new congressional map on April 21.
If the map is approved, McAuliffe would campaign to represent the sprawling 7th District, which stretches from Arlington to western Augusta County. Most of the district's voters would live just outside Washington, D.C., and it's one of four new districts that are intended to favor Democrats.
“I look forward to traveling this district — from Arlington to Augusta and Prince William to Powhatan — and sharing that vision for this community that I’ve long called home,” she said.
An attorney and mother of five, McAuliffe was Virginia's first lady from 2014 to 2018. During that time, she pushed for childhood nutrition programs and helped tackle a backlog of untested rape kits in the state.
In 2017, the former first lady weighed challenging former Republican U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock, though opted against a bid. She became the U.S. State Department’s special representative for global partnerships in 2022 under President Joe Biden's administration.
McAuliffe is entering a crowded primary. Last month, four-term Virginia Del. Dan Helmer and former federal prosecutor J.P. Cooney, who served as a deputy to special counsel Jack Smith and was fired by Trump, launched campaigns in the district. State Del. Elizabeth Guzman, who was elected the first Latina immigrant in the General Assembly, also said she was weighing a run.
McAuliffe and other candidates would have an opportunity to change their plans if the redistricting effort is not approved or is thrown out by the state Supreme Court.
The spelling of McAuliffe has been corrected in one reference.
FILE - Democratic gubernatorial candidate, former Gov. Terry McAuliffe hugs his wife, Dorothy during a rally in Richmond, Va., Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021. McAuliffe will face Republican Glenn Youngkin in the November election. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
FILE - Dorothy McAuliffe speaks during a campaign event for her husband Virginia democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe at Lubber Run Park, July 23, 2021, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — René Redzepi, the founder and celebrity chef at the iconic Danish restaurant Noma that won three Michelin stars and other international accolades for its innovative “New Nordic” cuisine, has stepped down following allegations of abuse and assault at the Copenhagen landmark.
Redzepi has been dogged for years by reports of mistreatment of his staff as well as his yearslong use of unpaid interns to staff the pricy restaurant, which was ranked first on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants List five times. But the criticism recently came to a head on social media, and an article in The New York Times detailed former employees' accounts of abuse just days ahead of the opening of a Noma pop-up in Los Angeles.
Sponsors have since pulled their funding for the Southern California residency, which opened on Wednesday to a small gathering of protesters and where a meal will cost $1,500. Redzepi announced his resignation on Instagram with a tearful video soon after.
“I have worked to be a better leader and Noma has taken big steps to transform the culture over many years,” he wrote in the post's caption on Thursday. “I recognize these changes do not repair the past. An apology is not enough; I take responsibility for my own actions.”
Jason Ignacio White, a former head of Noma’s fermentation lab, collected anonymous testimonies of alleged abuse at the restaurant and posted them to his Instagram page. The accounts, which range from verbal abuse to physical assault at the hands of Redzepi and his deputies, have gone viral.
“I got punched in the face during service there,” one unidentified person wrote to White.
Another said: “Noma destroyed my passion for the industry. I struggled with intense anxiety, bad enough to give me panic attacks in the middle of the night. The trauma, abuse and idea that nothing would ever change all led me to walk away from the career.”
Redzepi has publicly addressed his aggression over the last decade. In response to Saturday's New York Times article, which included interviews with 35 former employees who worked at Noma between 2009 and 2017, the chef apologized on Instagram and said he has worked to change his behavior.
He was knighted in 2016 to Denmark's Order of Dannebrog by then-Queen Margrethe II.
Noma, Redzepi and the Danish royal family's press department did not immediately return requests for comment on Thursday.
Kristoffer Dahy Ernst, editor-in-chief of Danish food magazine Gastro, said Redzepi had to step down for the restaurant to have a chance of survival.
“René Redzepi is the face of Noma, he is Noma,” Dahy Ernst told The Associated Press. “If you want to solve the huge problem that Noma has right now, you have to remove the source of the problem.”
Dahy Ernst said it is unclear whether Noma can continue without its visionary founder, who brought international acclaim to a Scandinavian country that can trace a change in its gastro-tourism before and after the restaurant's 2003 opening. With its dedication to hospitality, flawless execution and culture of foraging from the nearby land and sea, Noma made Copenhagen a top dining destination for foodies worldwide.
“We were very old-fashioned. We had open-faced sandwiches with rye bread, but we weren’t really that proud of our gastronomy,” Dahy Ernst said.
Nick Curtin, the American executive chef and owner of Copenhagen's Michelin-starred Alouette restaurant, said the culinary industry gives too much power to a single person at the top.
“It’s long overdue that we get rid of the notion that sacrifice, humiliation, pain (and) violence are the ways — the building blocks — for greatness,” he told the AP.
Copenhagen local Nicklas Keng said he doesn’t expect that an industrywide reckoning will follow. But he’s hopeful that even if Noma’s excellence fades, its talented alumni in Denmark will ensure that Copenhagen’s food scene stays on the map.
For Annie Nguyen, an American tourist visiting Copenhagen, Noma had long been on her list of places to check out. But the recent headlines have prompted a change of heart.
“I personally would not want to continue dining there with that kind of culture,” she said. “I feel it does kind of leave a bad taste.”
Dazio reported from Berlin.
A staff member polishes the glass doors outside a Noma restaurant in Copenhagen, Tuesday, May 1, 2012. (Keld Navntoft/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
Noma's chef René Redzepi smells a citrus fruit in Copenhagen, Nov. 24, 2024. (Soeren Bidstrup/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
Noma's chef René Redzepi prepares a vegetarian burger in a restaurant, in Copenhagen, Nov. 24, 2024. (Soeren Bidstrup/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
