A poll published Friday shows former Governor of Virginia Terry McAuliffe and his opponent, Republican Glenn Youngkin in a tight race for the upcoming gubernatorial election.
According to a Washington Post/Shar School poll, McAuliffe has a 49 percent to 43 percent edge over Youngkin. Among likely voters, McAuliffe has a 50 percent to 47 edge over Youngkin.
The election, which will be held Nov. 2, can serve as a foreshadowing to the 2022 midterm elections. The two candidates had their first debate on Thursday evening. Abortion rights, economic issues, and issues surrounding the Wuhan coronavirus – such as mask mandates and vaccine mandates, took center stage during the debate.
“The smaller margin among people likely to vote, combined with a low percentage of voters who say they plan to vote early, suggests that Democrats could face an enthusiasm gap and a challenge boosting turnout to the high levels of the past four years,” the poll write-up reads.
In the write-up, Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University said the poll tells him “it’s a toss-up election right now,”
The poll was conducted from Sept. 7 through Sept. 13 among a random sample of 907 registered voters in Virginia. 728 of the respondents are “likely to vote” in the election. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points among registered voters and +/- 4.5 percentage points among likely voters.
“Democrats in power – such as President Biden – do not seem to be helping McAuliffe, and independents and White voters are breaking toward the Republican candidate,” the write-up states.