Politics

Ed Gillespie On Virginia Senate Race: ‘We’ve Closed A Big Gap’ [VIDEO]

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
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One poll earlier this year showed him trailing incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Warner by a whopping 29 points.

Now, Virginia Republican Senate nominee Ed Gillespie is touting a poll showing him down just nine points.

“We’ve closed a big gap,” Gillespie said in a wide-ranging interview with The Daily Caller. “You know, when I got in, we were down 29 points to Mark Warner. And the Quinnipiac poll has it in single digits. A 20 point gain in about five months time while being outspent 3 to 1.”

A Gillespie victory would shock observers. But the former RNC chairman predicts the race will tighten as he continues waging war against Warner.

“When Virginians learn he’s not the independent, bipartisan voice that he said he would be, that he votes with President Obama 97 percent of the time, that he votes against bipartisan amendment after bipartisan amendment on the senate floor, they’re holding him accountable,” Gillespie said. “And that’s why we’re closing that gap. And we’re going to beat him on election day.”

Gillespie sat down with The Daily Caller to discuss his race with Warner, Ebola, Obamacare, ISIS, immigration, and other issues.

Asked if he thinks the Ebola crisis will influence voters in his race, Gillespie said: “It is one more example where the federal government is failing at what it ought to be doing right. Because it’s doing too many things that it ought not be doing in the first place, and that’s the effect of the Obama-Warner policies.”

Referencing Warner’s recent comments that it might be time to consider a flight ban, Gillespie said: “The time to consider a flight ban is over. We need to have a flight ban. And this administration, this CDC, needs to stand up and provide some strong leadership here. And we’re just not seeing it.”

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