New Poll: Perriello 26%-Northam 26%; Gillespie 38%-Stewart 11%; Platt Leads Dem Race for LG

From the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University.

• “Former Congressman Tom Perriello is tied at 26% with Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam in the Democratic primary for governor…with just under half (45%) saying they are undecided.”
• “Clinton voters favor Northam (34%) over Perriello (25%). But Sanders voters back Perriello (32%) over Northam (21%).”
• “Northam’s strength lies with voters in his home region of Hampton Roads (33%), while Perriello’s strength lies with voters in the Richmond-central (33%) and South/Southwest (43%) regions.”
• “Perriello also overperforms his statewide margin among voters younger than 45 (37%) and self-identified liberals (30%). Significantly, both candidates underperform in Northern Virginia, but Perriello’s showing is particularly weak in that Democratic-leaning region.”
• “African-American voters, a crucial bloc in the Democratic coalition, are evenly divided between Northam (22%) and Perriello (24%).”
• “Former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie has a commanding lead (38%) in the Republican primary for governor…compared to 11% for Prince William County Chairman Corey Stewart and 10% for Virginia Beach state Senator Frank Wagner. More than a third of Republicans (38%) are undecided.”
• “The 2016 party divisions persist. Sanders voters prefer ‘insurgent’ Perriello; Clinton voters prefer ‘establishment’ favorite Northam. ‘Establishment’ candidate Gillespie underperforms among Trump voters.”
• Corey Stewart likes to claim he was Trump before Trump was Trump, yet he’s only at 11% among Trump voters, compared to 32% for “Establishment Ed” Gillespie.
• “Susan Platt, former chief of staff to Senator Joe Biden, leads the Democratic field for lieutenant governor, with most voters undecided.” Platt has 20%, Justin Fairfax has 11% and Gene Rossi has 6%.
• Platt leads 23%-9% over Fairfax (and 7% for Gene Rossi) among female voters. Platt also leads Fairfax among African-American Voters, by a 28%-8% margin. Fairfax does relatively well in Northern Virginia (14%-9% lead over Platt) and white voters (15%-12% lead for Platt), with large majorities undecided.
• “State Senator Jill Vogel leads the field for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, but a majority of voters are undecided.” Vogel is at 17%, followed by Del. Glenn Davis (13%) and Sen. Bryce Reeves (10%).
• Large percentages of voters still say they have “no opinion” of the candidates: 75% for Frank Wagner, 71% for Corey Stewart and Ralph Northam, 69% for Tom Perriello, 58% for Ed Gillespie. Kind of amazing, considering that Northam is the Lt. Governor of Virginia and Ed Gillespie almost defeated Sen. Mark Warner after running statewide (and spending a ton of money getting his name out there) in 2014. People really don’t pay attention to Virginia politics, it’s amazing…
• “President Donald Trump’s approval rating among Virginia voters is 37%, with 59% disapproving of the job he is doing as president.”