President Joe Biden is tanking in Virginia and dragging the chances of former Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s run to return to the office.
In a new survey of the gubernatorial election in the state that has voted for Democrats in the past four elections, McAuliffe has gone from leading Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin to being tied at 48%.
And when the third-party candidate is added in, Youngkin tops McAuliffe, 48% to 46%.
“Head-to-head support for Glenn Younkin has grown by three points while McAuliffe’s support has dropped by the same amount. The ballot has shifted by six-points since early August. The race is tied race heading into the home stretch,” according to the polling memo shared with Secrets.
The WPA Intelligence survey, conducted for the Youngkin campaign, is the first to show the Republican tied or leading and follows a trend of surveys showing him on the rise and Biden on the outs with Virginia voters upset with his mishandling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, rising inflation, and inability to kill COVID-19.
It also highlights troubles for McAuliffe, the former fundraiser for both Bill and Hillary Clinton who has tied himself closely to Biden, even inviting the president in for a fundraiser and rally.
The survey comes at a critical time in the campaign when voters turn their attention from readying children for school to the election. Youngkin today marked the start of the final stretch with ads highlighting his experience and knocking McAuliffe’s increasingly leftist tilt.
“Terry McAuliffe and his liberal Richmond allies are failing Virginia, and it’s going to take a new kind of leader, not a failed politician looking for a second chance, to create a commonwealth where businesses can prosper, students can thrive, and communities are safe,” said Youngkin, the former CEO of the Carlyle Group, an influential Washington investment operation.
The election is in 56 days. McAuliffe is trying to be the state’s second returning governor. The state bars governors from running for reelection in back-to-back contests.
The survey is a wake-up call to Democrats hoping to run on Biden’s coattails in 2022.
“Opinions regarding Joe Biden have collapsed in Virginia,” according to the survey analysis shown below.
How bad is it for Biden? In one month, his favorable-unfavorable rating has gone from 53% favorable and 43% unfavorable to 50% unfavorable and 43% favorable.
And along the way, Republicans have become far more interested in the election and voting than Democrats. According to the analysis, “Eighty-one percent of Republicans report very high (10 out of 10) levels of interest in the election compared to fewer than six-in-ten Democrats (58%).”
