While national polling is looking pretty bad for the Democratic Party, polls from purplish Virginia show Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is trailing far behind her Democrat opponent, former U.S. representative Abigail Spanberger.
In a poll conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University, Spanberger leads Earle-Sears 49%-37% among registered voters. That 12-point gap comes after a previous VCU poll, in December, showed Spanberger leading Sears 45%-35%.
The gubernatorial election, now 3 ½ months away, is necessary because the Virginia Constitution limits the governor to one four-year term.
The current Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, won election in 2021 with a narrow 50%-48% victory over Democrat candidate Terry McAuliffe.
Earle-Sears, who was then a member of the state legislature, narrowly defeated fellow state legislator Hala Ayala 50%-49% four years ago.
In the fall presidential election, Kamala Harris won Virginia and its 13 electoral votes with a 51%-46% victory of Donald Trump. That gap was only a difference of 260,300 votes.
Jameson Taylor, of AFA Action, says a looming factor in every statewide elections is Virginia’s huge number of federal employees who live in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.
“And they are upset over the DOGE cuts, and the budget cuts, and things like that,” he advises. “That is having an important impact on the Virginia gubernatorial race.”
As far as any political advice for the Sears campaign, Taylor says the Republican has to highlight Spanberger’s liberal record in Congress that supports abortion and radical climate change legislation.
“She has voted with President Trump less than 10% precent of the time,” Taylor says. “She voted with President Biden 100% of the time.”
A campaign video, released by the Earle-Sears campaign in March, described Spanberger's "destructive record" in Congress.
One promising part of the VCU poll for the Earle-Sears campaign was the view of Virginia's self-described independent voters. The poll found 47% of them said they were undecided over their choice for governor.
According to Taylor, those independent voters are looking for "authenticity" in the two candidates and he believes Sears has the edge over the Democrat.
"She has a compelling story," he says. "She is not a swamp creature, like her opponent."
Editor's Note: AFA Action is an affiliate of American Family Association, the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.
