Wason Center at Christopher Newport University has published a new poll covering a number of topics, including the primary races for Governor.
In the Republican primary race, Ed Gillespie is far ahead with 33% of the vote, followed by state senator Frank Wagner with 9%, PWC Chairman Corey Stewart has 7% and Denver Riggleman is at 1%. Half of the Republicans polled are undecided in this race.
On the Democrat side Lt Governor Ralph Northam is ahead of Tom Perriello 26% to 15% with 59% of Democrats undecided or they like someone else.
More from the Wason Center:
A Look at the 2017 Gubernatorial Primaries. Six people have announced they are running for governor in 2017, and both political parties are set for primaries in June to select their candidates. At this point, “No Opinion” is the dominant voter response. Former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie, who nearly defeated incumbent Senator Mark Warner in 2014, has the highest share of voters with an opinion (30%) and the highest net favorability rating at +10 (20% favorable to 10% unfavorable). Nearly a quarter of voters (23%) know enough about Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam to have a view of him, and those who do have a more favorable than unfavorable view by +9 (16% to 7%). Former Congressman Tom Perriello is known by 19% of voters, and has a net rating of +3 (11% to 8%). Prince William County Supervisor Corey Stewart is known by 15% of voters, and has the only net negative rating at -1 (7% to 8%). Virginia Beach State Senator Frank Wagner is known by 14% of voters, and has a net rating of +4 (9% to 5%). The most recent entrant, Denver Riggleman, was not included in the favorable/unfavorable portion of the survey.
Interesting that only Corey Stewart has a negative favorability rating.
Other key findings from the same poll:
1. Voters support repealing the Affordable Care Act, but most want a replacement plan in place along with repeal; they also want to keep popular parts of the ACA, including covering pre-existing conditions and allowing children on parent’s insurance until age 26.
2. Virginians say they support expanding forms of energy that are clean and safe, but don’t support fracking, more coal mining or more nuclear.
3. Voters oppose prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks.
4. Virginians support Gov. McAuliffe’s order protecting gay and transgender employees, but they also support the “bathroom bill” that would require people to use the facility corresponding with their sex at birth.
5. Virginians largely support criminal justice reforms related to marijuana, license suspensions for unpaid fines, and use of new DNA evidence.
6. Awareness of the process of redistricting continues to increase.
The details of the poll are here.
