Eleven months out from the Virginia gubernatorial election, Democratic lieutenant governor Ralph Northam leads the four Republican candidates for the race in a new poll released by Quinnipiac University:
- Northam 38
Ed Gillespie 34 - Northam 39
Rob Wittman 30 - Northam 39
Frank Wagner 30 - Northam 38
Corey Stewart 29
Gillespie – the former chairman of the Republican National Committee – leads the Republican field in large part from name recognition after his narrow loss to Mark Warner in the 2014 Virginia Senate race:
- Gillespie 24
- Wittman 10
- Wagner 4
- Stewart 4
The majority of Republican voters – 57 percent – are undecided. It should also be noted that Wittman dropped out of the race last week.
Virginia governors approve of the job Governor Terry McAuliffe is doing 52-30. McAuliffe can’t run for reelection because Virginia state law limits governors to one term. Broken down into political demographics:
- Democrats approve 75-8.
- Independents approve 52-32.
- Republicans disapprove 57-27.
Virginia is a rare bright spot in the south for Democrats, and one of their big success stories over the past decade in state and presidential election cycles. Democrats currently hold all five statewide elected offices – governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and both U.S. Senate seats – in what had previously been a Republican-leaning state.
politicalwilderness.com 