Candidates for governor – McAuliffe and Youngkin – in a dead heat, according to latest poll
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| McAuliffe speaks to voters. |
The two candidates in the race to become the next government of Virginia – Terry McAuliffe and Glenn Youngkin – is a virtual dead heat.
Forty percent of likely voters plan to vote for McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate, on Nov. 2, and 37 percent favor Youngkin, the Republican candidate, according to a statewide poll conducted by the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University.
A significant number of voters, 23 percent, remain undecided or unwilling to vote for either candidate.
Youngkin closely tied to Trump
Youngkin, a billionaire and big supporter of Donald Trump, has never held elective office and hasn’t posted any detailed policy positions on his campaign website. He also refuses to debate McAuliffe.
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| Youngkin on the campaign trail. |
Youngkin’s actions on the campaign trail show where he stands, however. He has attended an “election integrity” rally in support of Trump’s conspiracy theories, attended several GOP rallies with insurrectionists who participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and vowed to ban abortion and slash Virginia’s income tax, which would decimate the state’s budget.
Youngkin served with the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, for 25 years. He was named co-CEO in 2018 and was forced out in 2020 after costing the firm millions of dollars. During his leadership, Carlyle acquired companies that sent U.S. jobs overseas and manufactured weapons used by repressive governments to crack down on pro-democracy protestors.
McAuliffe would invest in economic growth
McAuliffe is a former governor of Virginia (2014-18) and former chair of the Democratic National Committee.
McAuliffe has posted detailed policy proposals, including the following:
- A big increase in education funding;
- An investment in entrepreneurship;
- Improved access to high-quality healthcare and mental health services;
- Affordable prescription drugs;
- A ban on assault weapons;
- Increasing the supply of affordable housing;
- Ensuring an equitable justice system; and
- Moving Virginia to 100 percent clean energy by 2035.
Different approaches to COVID
Like just about every other issue, the two candidates take opposite positions on COVID-19.
McAuliffe believes it’s critical to get the pandemic under control to build a strong post-COVID economy.
He requires his campaign staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID and urges healthcare systems, school systems, and other employers to require full vaccination of employees. He also calls for universities and colleges to require students and staff to be vaccinated.
Youngkin opposes vaccine mandates and encourages Virginians to seek a waiver allowing them to forgo a vaccination. He vowed to follow in the footsteps of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis whose opposition to masks and vaccine mandates has led to soaring COVID caseloads and deaths, overflowing ICUs, and school closures.
Other poll results
In the race for lieutenant governor, Democrat Hala Ayala has a large lead over Republican Winsome Sears (39 percent to 31 percent respectively) in the VCU poll. However, 12 percent of voters are undecided about this race, and 17 percent are unwilling to vote for either candidate.
The Democratic attorney general, Mark Herring has an even bigger lead over Republican challenger Jason Miyares, with 41 percent favoring Herring, compared to 30 percent for Miyares.
Poll respondents were also asked which party they would rather see in control of the Virginia General Assembly. All 100 House of Delegates seats are up for election in November, with Democrats currently holding a 55-45 advantage.
Four-four percent of voters said they prefer having Democrats control the legislature, while 40 percent favor Republicans.
While this article is definitely slanted, it's pretty clear by now that if you care about the economy, you need to get the pandemic under control. Vaccine mandates are a big part of that.
Not that this has ever been a question, but clear that the author is part of McAuliffe election team.
Seems like the author is part of team sanity.
As an undecided voter, this sort of bias reporting does not push me to want to vote for McAuliffe. Give me a balanced view of the candidates.
Actually Younkin is uninformed as to vaccinations. He should be arrested for attempted murder as should anyone refusing the vaccine. They are endangering everyone with allowing the virus to mutate but especially children who do not qualify for the vaccine. Let him and others like him research the polio, measles and mumps outbreaks before vaccines. They lined us up in school for the Salk vaccine and everyone was thrilled to get it. Freedom ends when you endanger others lives.
Attempted murder for doing literally nothing. Team McAuliffe sounds right for you.
Update – A new poll released Aug. 28 by AARP-Virginia and the Wason Center for Civic Leadership at Christopher Newport University puts McAuliffe ahead, 50 percent to 41 percent with 6 percent undecided.
Another political "Hit Job" by another bleeding heart liberal group. Reprehensible! I am an Independent voter but will definitely NOT be voting Democrat… due entirely to the disgraceful bias by the those with "the pen". This has to stop and by voting against the candidate, who I am being "told" to vote for, may teach these liberal activists a lesson The Annandale Blog should be ashamed of itself for not reporting the facts and letting the voters/readers make up their own minds – without influence.
Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is and pick up “the pen.” What’s stopping you? The Annandale Blog is a private enterprise and she can write or report however the f she wants.