The Eye

Labor unions opposed the pact and say it has decimated the nation's manufacturing sector.

"How can you claim to have any credibility on economic development and job creation, especially in places like Danville, when you were one of NAFTA's biggest supporters?" Deeds asked McAuliffe, saying that the pact was a "job-killer" in Danville, which has a double-digit unemployment rate, and throughout Virginia.

"I wouldn't say NAFTA was a good deal. The implementation of it was wrong," said McAuliffe, who also credited Clinton, a close friend who campaigned for McAuliffe last weekend, for the creation of 22 million jobs during his eight-year tenure as president.

Without mentioning his primary rivals by name, Deeds used his closing statement to criticize McAuliffe's campaign contributions from Donald Trump and other out-of-state donors and Moran's financial support from defense industry lobbyists.

Moran brought up McAuliffe's $18 million profit from a $100,000 investment in the telecommunications firm Global Crossing Ltd., which emerged earlier this decade as a symbol of corporate excess. "Why didn't you give the money back?" Moran asked McAuliffe.

McAuliffe said that he was a venture capitalist investor who had no involvement in the company's operations. "I never did anything for Global Crossing. ... I never worked for them. I had nothing to do with the management," he said.

McAuliffe got in the mix by saying Moran's voting record was inconsistent with his public statements as governor on issues including offshore drilling, payday lending and banning lobbyist gifts to legislators. Moran responded that he had a record of "taking on the corporate interests," and his campaign later said that McAuliffe was misrepresenting his record and that McAuliffe was abrogating a campaign promise to run a positive campaign.

The three candidates were asked which single issue they would focus on as governor, aside from the mainstays of jobs, education and transportation. Deeds noted that he's been a longtime advocate of redrawing district lines in a fairer way ("that's my cause celebre," he said). McAuliffe identified gang violence as "something that needs to be tackled." Moran identified health care, saying he would work as governor to "provide access to health care for all Virginians."

There were points of agreement. All three candidates expressed support for restoring felons' voting rights after they have paid their debts to society. Under Virginia's constitution, convicted felons generally are banned from voting for the rest of their lives.

All support greater investments in the state's historically black colleges and universities. Moran said that "the state has to step up and assist those historically black colleges and provide a first-class education."

The three Democrats will debate Wednesday night in Blacksburg, about 120 miles from Danville in southwest Virginia. The winner will face Republican Bob McDonnell, a former state Attorney General who already has secured his party's nomination.