Virginia Politics

McAuliffe, Youngkin locked in tight race for Virginia governor, Post-Schar School poll finds

By Gregory S. Schneider, Laura Vozzella, Scott Clement and Emily Guskin
Yesterday at 5:08 p.m. EDT

RICHMOND — Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin are locked in a tight race for Virginia governor, with McAuliffe standing at 50 percent to 47 percent for Youngkin among likely voters in a Washington Post-Schar School poll.

Among registered voters, McAuliffe has a 49 percent to 43 percent edge over Youngkin — but neither lead is statistically significant. The smaller margin among people likely to vote, combined with a low percentage of voters who say they plan to vote early, suggests that Democrats could face an enthusiasm gap and a challenge boosting turnout to the high levels of the past four years.

“There’s an intensity deficit here for the Democrats compared to where they were … during the Trump era,” said Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, which co-sponsored the poll. “This tells me it’s a toss-up election right now.”

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Clement and Guskin reported from Washington.