HAMPTON, Va. – With less than two weeks until Election Day, a new poll from Hampton University shows Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie with an eight-point lead over his Democratic rival Ralph Northam.
Gillespie had the support of 41-percent of likely voters while Northam had 33-percent. However, the poll found that 27-percent of the respondents remain undecided.
Some recent polls have shown Northam with a lead. In fact, last week’s Fox News poll gave the lieutenant governor an 8-point lead over Gillespie.
Respondents said that economic and job growth as well as health care are the most pressing issues for the next governor.
- Working to improve the economy and create jobs — 34%
- Education — 18%
- Gun control — 9%
- Health care — 23%
- Improving transportation infrastructure such as bridges, tunnels, and road surfaces — 13%
- Don’t Know/Refused — 3%
L to R: Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and Ed Gillespie (R).
Additionally, 52–percent of those surveyed approved of the job Terry McAuliffe has been doing as governor while 38-percent said they disapproved.
However, the respondents did not give such an endorsement to President Donald Trump. In fact, 56-percent of those polled said they disapproved of the job he was doing as president as opposed to 39-percent who supported the president.
The survey, which was conducted between Oct. 18 – 22 from a random sampling of 400 landline and 350 cell phones, polled 750 registered Virginia voters who said they were likely to vote in the race. It has a margin of error of +/- 4.2%
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7.
