United States Senator Tim Kaine is on the ballot this year. And he has a comfortable lead over his Republican opponent in the polls.
Republican Senate candidate Hung Cao is trailing incumbent Senator Tim Kaine by 12 points in a recent poll from the Schar School at George Mason University. Mark Rozell is dean of the school, and he says he’s surprised by the lack of polarization in the poll.
"I found that somewhat surprising. So, Hung Cao is at least 12 percentage points behind Tim Kaine. Donald Trump slightly less behind Kamala Harris," Rozell says. "And then Glenn Youngkin has relatively strong approval ratings at the same time."
A separate poll from the Wason Center at Christopher Newport University has Cao trailing Kaine by 11 points. Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo is research director at the Wason Center.
"Cao and his campaign strategy has been pretty prominently linked to Donald Trump. He regularly tweets on X about their shared vision and that sort of thing," says Bromley-Trujillo. "And I think in this state, that strategy doesn't tend to play well."
She says Kaine benefits from being a household name, serving as governor before becoming senator and running on the national ticket in 2016. Cao received some name recognition two years ago when he ran against Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton, but so far, he seems to be falling behind in the election for U.S. Senate. The candidates are scheduled for one debate next month at Norfolk State University.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
