Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) leads Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R) in Virginia’s governors race, according to a new poll released by Virginia Commonwealth University on Tuesday.
The poll found that 49 percent of registered voters backed Spanberger, while 40 percent supported Earle-Sears.
The poll tracks with most surveys released ahead of November’s election. According to the Decision Desk HQ average, Spanberger leads Earle-Sears by 8.4 points.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the race as “lean Democratic.” Last week, Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a prominent election forecaster, moved its rating of Virginia’s gubernatorial race from “lean Democratic” to “likely Democratic.”
However, Tuesday’s VCU poll showed narrower races down the ballot. In the state’s lieutenant governor race, Democratic state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D) leads Republican John Reid by 4 points, while former Del. Jay Jones (D) leads incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares ( R) by six points.
The poll was conducted on Aug. 18 to 24 among 804 Virginia adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.10 percentage points.
