Roanoke College Poll: McAuliffe Up 8 Points (46%-38%); Ayala Up 6 Points (42%-36%); Herring Up 8 Points (45%-37%)

It’s been months, but we finally have an independent, non-Republican/non-Youngkin public poll (as opposed to all the Republican “internals,” etc.) of the Virginia governor’s race. Check out the new Roanoke College poll here, which finds that:

Former Democrat Governor Terry McAuliffe holds an 8-percentage point lead over Republican Glenn Youngkin (46%-38%) with 13% undecided in race for Virginia governor, according to The Roanoke College Poll.

Democrats also lead the downticket races, with Del. Hala Ayala (D) leading former Del. Winsome Sears (R) by only 6 percentage points 42%-36% for lieutenant governor and Attorney General Mark Herring (D) leading Del. Jason Miyares (R) by 8 percentage points 45%-37% in the race for attorney general. The Institute for Policy and Opinion Research interviewed 558 likely Virginia voters between Aug. 3 and Aug. 17 and has a margin of error of +4.2%.  

Likely voters see the economy (26%) and COVID (9%) as the most important issues in the election ahead of race relations (7%), education (7%) and health care (6%).  

McAuliffe’s favorable rating is 44% while his unfavorable is 32% with 21% unsure or don’t know enough to have an opinion. Youngkin is at 27%/21% favorable/unfavorable, but half (50%) of likely voters still don’t have an opinion about him. 

Also worth noting:

• The Republican Party has a miserable 29%-50% (-21 points) approval rating. The Democratic Party is at 41%-47% (-6 points) – not great, but a lot better than the GOP(Q)!
• Black Lives Matter has a much better net approval rating (+9 points) than the NRA (-10 points)
• The Virginia General Assembly gets a 41%-35% (+6 points) approval rating.
• Gov. Ralph Northam’s approval rating is VERY strong, at 52%-38% (+14 points).
• Keep in mind that Joe Biden won Virginia by 10 points in 2020 and that Ralph Northam won Virginia by 9 points in 2017, so an 8-point Democratic lead doesn’t seem unreasonable at all. Now, we all have to do OUR part and volunteer, donate, and most importantly VOTE Democratic up and down the ballot this fall!