Newly inaugurated Gov. Ralph Northam and his wife found pillowcases emblazoned with former governor Terry McAuliffe’s face and a favorite saying on their bed in the governor’s mansion. (Photo by Gov. Ralph Northam/Photo by Gov. Ralph Northam) 
 
 The peaceful transfer of power in Virginia would not be complete without a prank pulled by the outgoing governor on his successor. 
 
 So it was that as newly inaugurated Gov. Ralph Northam (D) hit the sack Saturday night after his inauguration, he found something special on his pillowcase — and it was not one of those fancy hotel good-night chocolates. 
 
 An image of former governor Terry McAuliffe (D) was plastered on his pillowcase, emblazoned with one of the go-go-go ex-governor's favorite sayings: "Sleep when you're dead." 
 
 And yes, Virginia's 73rd governor spent his first night in the mansion with his head resting on the 72nd's governor's grinning mug. His wife, first lady Pam Northam, let him use her McAuliffe-covered pillow, too, opting for a plain pillowcase for herself. 
 
 "Let me show you the picture," Northam said, pulling out his cellphone after a brunch hosted by the first lady Sunday at Richmond's Jefferson Hotel. 
 
 The pillowcases are not the only reminders McAuliffe left behind. 
 
 
 
 Gov.Ralph Northam and his wife, Pam, arrive at the south portico before Northam took the oath of office at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Saturday. (Kevin Morley/AP) 
 
 "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." 
 
 The alarm clock trick is not a new one, but certain pranks are bound to get recycled in the only state where the governorship changes hands every four years. Departing governor Robert F. McDonnell (R) set one to go off at 4 a.m. four years ago, giving McAuliffe a jolt on his first weekend in the Executive Mansion. 
 
 Another surprise awaited the newly sworn-in McAuliffe when he got to his office: a huge stuffed bear in the private bathroom. It was no teddy bear. It was the real, taxidermied thing, poached from the office of McDonnell's natural resources secretary Doug Domenech. 
 
 On his way out of the governorship, in 2010, now-Sen. Tim Kaine (D) hid cellphones in the mansion elevator shaft and periodically called them as a trick on McDonnell. It took a few days for McDonnell's team to locate them. 
 
 And before that, now-Sen. Mark R. Warner (D) left a life-size cutout of himself in the governor's mansion shower for Kaine. ||||| Virginia's outgoing governor has pulled a prank on his successor. 
 
 The Washington Post reported Sunday that Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam found images of Terry McAuliffe on his bed pillows at the Governor's Mansion. 
 
 McAuliffe, also a Democrat, emblazoned the pillows with one of his favorite sayings: "Sleep when you're dead." 
 
 Northam and his wife, first lady Pam Northam, spent their first night in the mansion resting their heads on the 72nd's governor's grinning mug. 
 
 The Post reports that the newly inaugurated Governor was also treated to several photos of McAuliffe around the residence and an early morning wake up call. 
 
 "There are pictures of the governor all over the mansion that he left for me," Northam told the Post. "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. 
 
 Such pranks are common in Virginia, the only state where the governorship changes hands every four years. 
 
 During the last changeover, Republican Bob McDonnell had left a huge stuffed bear in the private bathroom for a newly sworn-in McAuliffe. It was a real bear taken from the office of McDonnell's natural resources secretary Doug Domenech. 
 
 At a chilly ceremony in Richmond surrounded by his family and, further back, a number of former governors, Northam took the oath to become the Old Dominion's 73rd chief executive on Saturday. 
 
 Northam, a Democrat, veteran and pediatrician who was previously the state's lieutenant governor, beat Republican Ed Gillespie for the seat in November.
– Playing pranks on your successor is a tradition among Virginia governors. When Mark Warner moved out of the governor's mansion in 2006, for example, he left a life-size cutout of himself in the shower for the recently elected Tim Kaine, the Washington Post reports. Kaine paid that favor forward four years later when he occasionally called cell phones he'd left in the elevator shafts to irk his successor, Robert McDonnell. But outgoing Gov. Terry McAuliffe may have taken the cake Saturday night, greeting new Gov. Ralph Northam and his wife, Pam, with pillowcases on their new bed plastered with McAuliffe's image. And right above the image was one of McAuliffe's favorite lines: "Sleep when you're dead." Northam took his hazing in stride, spending his first night in office with his head rested on the portrait of his predecessor. He also showed a picture he had taken of the pillowcases to reporters at a brunch the next morning. But McAuliffe's mischief didn't stop there, CBS News reports. He also left pictures of himself throughout the governor's mansion. And, according to Northam, an alarm went off at 3am that first night, an alarm Northam has yet to find. "I texted him and thanked him," Northam said, "and he said there was more to come."