A poll released on Tuesday shows former President Donald Trump within a few points of leading the typically blue state of Virginia, even as Vice President Kamala Harris continues to gain in national polls.
Harris leads Trump by a margin of 47% to 44% in a head-to-head match-up, well within the poll’s 4.5% margin of error, according to a Roanoke College poll released Tuesday. The close race in a state Republicans have not won at the presidential level in 20 years comes as Harris continues to gain momentum nationally, going from trailing Trump by five points on July 28 to leading him by two as of Aug. 20, according to The New York Times’ polling average.
“Virginia is in play because, despite the mainstream media’s non-stop favorable coverage of Kamala, voters realize she is weak, failed, and dangerously liberal,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The more Americans learn about Kamala’s disastrous record — like her support for defunding the police, banning fracking, and raising taxes — the less Americans will like her.” (RELATED: New Polls Show Trump Losing To Harris In Key Swing States)
The poll represents a major rightward lurch from 2020 when President Joe Biden carried the state by over ten points, according to Politico. Trump’s margin is slightly worse than it was before Harris became the Democratic nominee, however, as he was tied with Biden in a May Roanoke College college and was even leading him by three points in a July poll released by Virginia Commonwealth University/Wilder.
If Trump won Virginia, he could carry the presidency without Arizona and the hotly-contested Great Lakes states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. A slate of polls released Aug. 10 showed Trump losing by four points in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Vice President Kamala Harris gives remarks alongside U.S. President Joe Biden at Prince George’s Community College. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Harris performs well in the Roanoke College poll when third-party candidates are included, leading Trump 45% to 42%. Libertarian Chase Oliver and independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the two most popular minor candidates in the poll, have yet to qualify for ballot access in Virginia, according to the NYT.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz is viewed negatively by the Virginian electorate, having a net favorability rating of -17, according to the poll.
“We have close to 800,000 #veterans,” former Virginia Rep. and Navy Seal Scott Taylor, a Republican, said on social media. “Vast majority don’t take kindly to a politician (a vet) lying about going to war [and] claiming a rank for 20 years he does not hold.”
The Harris campaign previously scrubbed Walz’s biography on its website to remove references to him as a “retired command sergeant major” as he faces criticism from Republicans for allegedly embellishing his service record.
Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance has a similar favorability rating to Walz, according to the Roanoke College poll. Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin was the most popular politician among those surveyed, boasting a 14-point net approval rating, the best of his tenure.
Interviews for the poll took place between Aug. 12 and Aug. 16, covering 691 likely voters living in Virginia.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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