Roanoke College Poll: Northam 47%-Gillespie 43%

After weeks of quiet, here’s yet another Virginia poll in the deluge we’ve seen over the past week – this one by Roanoke College. Highlights (or maybe “lowlights,” when you see some of these results?):

• Ralph Northam leads Ed Gillespie by 4 points, 47%-43%, after “leaners” are added in. Before that, it’s only a 2-point lead for Northam (44%-42%), far far far too close for comfort!
• As usual, the top issues on voters’ minds are healthcare (20%) and the economy/jobs (15%), with all other issues far behind.
• By a 52%-37% margin, Virginia voters believe that “things in the Commonwealth of Virginia are generally going in the right direction.”
• By a 56%-36% margin, Virginia voters “disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as President of the United States.”
• By a 49%-33% margin, Virginia voters approve “of the way Terry McAuliffe is handling his job as Governor of Virginia.”
• By a 61%-32% margin, Virginia voters disagree with President Trump ending the “program that protects some individuals, who entered the country illegally as children, from deportation and allows them to go to school or to work.”
• By a 61%-33% margin, Virginia voters “oppose building a wall along the entire border with Mexico.”
• By a 47%-32% margin, Virginia voters support “building natural gas pipelines in Virginia.”
• 62% of Virginia voters view Confederate statues and monuments as “historical objects,” while 28% see them as “racist symbols.” And by a 66%-28% margin, Virginia voters believe those statues and monuments should remain.
• 36% of Virginia voters believe that “the major cause of the civil war” was “states rights,” while 44% say the correct answer, “slavery.”
• 57% of Virginia voters believe that “[p]roviding free community college tuition to qualifying students would help Virginians get better jobs.”
• By a 52%-41% margin, Virginia voters believe that “Cutting state taxes would help all taxpayers and help the economy grow” rather than “only help the wealthy and hurt others because services would have to be cut.”