As Election Day approaches, a new poll shows Democrats poised to win the election for governor. But the races for other statewide offices are less clear.
Democratic candidate for governor Abigail Spanberger continues to have a commanding lead over Republican candidate Winsome Earle-Sears; 51% to 41%. That's according to a new poll from Roanoke College, which also asked voters about the most important issue in this campaign. Only four percent said transgender issues. So, spending so much of the campaign on this seems like it may have been a miscalculation, says Roanoke College professor Harry Wilson.
"They made the calculation that, ‘Hey, this is a winning issue for us. Let's hit this issue hard.’ And it probably isn't a winning issue for them," Wilson says.
Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares is leading Democratic candidate Jay Jones 46% to 38%. The poll shows Jones losing support among Democrats.
"Do they say, ‘OK, I don't like this text situation, but I'm still going to vote for Jones,’ or do they simply not vote in that election and they say, ‘OK, I'm going to vote for Spanberger and maybe I'll vote for Hashmi but I can't really vote for Jones, so I'll just leave that blank,’" Wilson says. "And, that we don't know."
In the race for lieutenant governor, Democrat Ghzala Hashmi has a narrow two-point lead over Republican John Reid, although the poll has margin of error of plus or minus four points.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
