Virginia Politics

Republicans gaining ground on Democrats in Virginia statewide elections, poll finds

By Antonio Olivo
Yesterday at 3:04 p.m. EDT

The races for Virginia governor and lieutenant governor have further tightened less than a month before the November election, with Republicans gaining ground among independents while Democratic enthusiasm is waning, according to a poll released Friday.

The survey of likely voters by Christopher Newport University’s Wason Center for Civic Leadership shows that former governor Terry McAuliffe (D) leads Republican Glenn Youngkin 49 percent to 45 percent — falling within the poll’s margin of error of 4.2 percentage points — while 5 percent of the respondents were still undecided.

McAuliffe’s lead has dropped by five points since August, when another Wason Center poll showed that 50 percent of likely voters supported him compared with 41 percent for Youngkin.

In the lieutenant governor’s race, Del. Hala S. Ayala (D-Prince William) leads Republican former Norfolk delegate Winsome E. Sears 48 percent to 44 percent, with 8 percent of likely voters undecided, according to the poll. Ayala led by 10 points in August, according to the Wason Center.

{snip}

By Antonio Olivo
Antonio Olivo covers government, politics and other issues in Northern Virginia. He has also reported from Afghanistan and Mexico after joining The Washington Post in 2013. Twitter https://twitter.com/aolivo