From the Democratic Party of Virginia, regarding this morning’s poll by the Wason Center at Christopher Newport University.
New Poll Shows Virginians Disapprove of Governor Youngkin and Strongly Reject His Far-Right Agenda
Another Major Blow for The Youngkin Administration
Richmond, VA — Today, the Wason Center, an “A”-rated pollster, released a poll showing a majority of Virginians strongly disapprove of the far-right agenda of Governor Youngkin.
Only a few weeks into his administration, Governor Youngkin is the first Virginia Governor to have a poll with a majority of disapproval rating in his first year in office. The poll shows a majority of Virginians (43%) disapprove of Governor Youngkin, showing a steady decline since the results on Election Day.
A measly 38% of Virginians support Youngkin’s latest push—using Governor Northam’s budget surplus to provide tax cuts. Instead, a strong majority of Virginians (59%) would rather use the budget surplus to fund underfunded services like education and public safety. While Governor Youngkin expressed his disappointment at Senate Democrats’ investment in education, he is clearly out of touch with the majority of Virginians who support their approach.
A strong majority of Virginians also reject Governor Youngkin and Virginia Republicans’ efforts to ban “divisive concepts” from our classrooms. An overwhelming 63% of Virginians support teaching how racism continues to impact American society, while only a minuscule 35% of Virginians agree with his efforts to ban critical race theory, once again demonstrating that the governor is only interested in catering to far-right factions of his party.
Virginians have also, once again, strongly rejected the idea of restricting a woman’s right to choose in the commonwealth. From mandatory ultrasounds, to a 24-hour wait period that’s been introduced before, only a sliver of the commonwealth supports far-right Republican attempts to restrict a woman’s right to choose her own reproductive decisions. Governor Youngkin said he wanted to go on the “offense” on abortion and Virginia voters clearly disagree with him on that once again.
In the largest rebuttal to Governor Youngkin, Virginians support the state’s membership in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative by a margin of 67% to 26%. It’s clear that Virginians want to protect our environment and address the pressing issue of climate change. Governor Youngkin’s failed attempts to withdraw from the RGGI and install a coal lobbyist to run our state’s natural resources is another example of him and his far-right cronies being out of touch with Virginians.
“Virginians are sending a message loud and clear to the Governor—they do not agree with his far-right agenda and they do not like the direction he is taking our commonwealth,” said DPVA Chair Susan Swecker. “The governor would much rather appeal to a far-right fraction of Virginians than listen to what a strong majority of Virginians want, which is investing in education, delivering a world-class educational system and funding public safety programs. I hope polls like this sound the alarm and impress upon him that his radical agenda has no place in Virginia.”
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