Latest poll shows strong support for General Assembly Democrats

Published October 7, 2019 by Richard Foster

Virginia voters are showing a strong preference for Democrats going into this fall's General Assembly elections, shows a new poll released Monday.

Democrats lead Republicans by 13 points on a generic ballot, according to the poll of 726 likely voters conducted throughout September by the Judy Ford Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University.

Furthermore, 53% of voters said they preferred Democrats to take majority control of the Virginia General Assembly, as opposed to 37% in favor of Republicans maintaining their longtime leadership of the state legislature.

In a pivotal campaign season when every General Assembly seat is up for election on Nov. 5, political analysts say that Democrats have the best chance in more than 25 years to wrest control of the legislature from Republicans.

Among the survey’s other findings:
• Democrats lead Republicans in voter enthusiasm, 62% to 49%, with 84% of Democrats stating they would definitely vote in the election, compared to 74% of Republicans.
• Gov. Ralph Northam held a 51% approval rating with voters.
• Virginia voters are unhappy with the state of the nation, and 62% said the country is on the wrong track.
• President Trump had a 37% approval rating among the Virginia voters and a generic Democrat candidate would defeat Trump by 51% to 36%.
• Fifty-nine percent of likely Virginia voters were less likely to vote for a state candidate who supports Trump; 49% of voters said they were more likely to vote for a state candidate who supports impeaching Trump, versus 44% of voters who said they would vote for a state candidate opposed to impeachment.

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