VCU’s L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs is out with a new Virginia public policy poll, and it has some interesting findings. These include:
*Democrats have a 9-point lead (42%-33%) among Virginia adults (note: NOT “likely voters” or even “registered voters”) for control of the General Assembly, with 25% not knowing or refusing to say who they prefer. Democrats lead HUGE (49%-29%) among women, but trail narrowly (38%-35%) among men. Democrats also lead big (61%-21%) among non-whites, while trailing by single digits (41%-34%) among whites. Also worth noting, “Partisans more likely to prefer control by own party but more Republicans are undecided than is the case with Democrats.”
- Gov. Northam has a 41%-16% net approval rating, with 43% not knowing or refusing to answer. Among Democrats, 33% strongly approve of the job Northam’s doing, with 24% “somewhat” approving and just 7% disapproving (4% strongly, 3% “somewhat”). Among Republicans, Northam’s net approval rating is 16%-28% (46% apparently don’t know), while among Independents, Northam is at 36%-20%. Northam is more popular among women (45%-15%) than among men (35%-18%). When VCU excluded the “don’t know” folks, Northam clocked in at 72%-28% net approval, including 89%-11% among Dems and 49%-51% among Republicans.
- The General Assembly has a 38%-22% approval rating, but with 40% saying they don’t know or refuse to answer. Excluding the “don’t knows,” we get a 63%-37% net approval rating for the General Assembly, including 66%-33% among Dems and 53%-47% among Republicans. That makes very little sense, given that the General Assembly is controlled by Republicans and also that it basically killed every piece of progressive or environmental legislation last session, but…there you have it. (I mean, how closely are people paying attention to the General Assembly? Apparently not very…)
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