A new poll in the race for governor is showing a significant lead for one candidate.
Former Governor Terry McAuliffe is leading Republican Glenn Youngkin 50% to 41%. That's a nine-point lead for the former governor, according to a new poll from the Wason Center for Civic Leadership at Christopher Newport University.
Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo is research director at the Wason Center.
"With the Democrats doing particularly well, it so far is appearing as though some of the struggles that Biden is going through are not harming the Democratic candidates here in the state," explains Bromley-Trujillo. "And I'd say the primary reason for that is that the demographics of the state are really kind of baked in to support Democratic candidates."
The poll has a margin of error of 3.6%, less than half of McAuliffe's lead. Two other recent polls also showed leads for McAuliffe, although the margins in those polls were somewhat smaller.
Quentin Kidd is academic director at the Wason Center, and he says Youngkin has muddied the message to suburban voters by repeatedly affirming his commitment to Donald Trump.
"All the ads that he's running on TV in the three big metro areas – northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and Richmond – are sort of undercut by things that he does to reinforce his support among his base," says Kidd.
In the race for lieutenant governor, the poll has Democrat Hala Ayala leading Republican Winsome Sears by 10 points. In the race for attorney general, it has incumbent AG Mark Herring leading Republican challenger Jason Miyares by 12 points.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
