A new poll shows Virginia voters prefer their Governor, Glenn Youngkin, for President over incumbent Joe Biden. But it also shows voters would rather keep Biden than trade him in for another Donald Trump presidency.
On Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, they’re split, with voters even on preferring Biden or DeSantis.
The results show that, at least in Virginia, Trump’s legal problems may be contributing to his electability in a General Election.
The Virginia Commonwealth University Wilder School poll found that if the election for President were today between Biden and Youngkin, the Virginia Governor would score 44% support to just 37% for Biden.
But if the matchup were between Trump and Biden, the Democratic incumbent would come in at 43% support to just 40% for Trump.
If the matchup were between Biden and DeSantis, voters would be split at 41%.
Responses were largely driven by partisanship, with 77% of Democrats favoring Biden in all three hypothetical matchups and 83% of Republicans favoring the GOP candidate over Biden, regardless of who that was.
“Voters are showing no clear and distinct preference for Democrats or Republicans in elections from the State House to the White House,” former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder said of the poll results.
“This (is) a continuing trend and should be a ‘wake up call’ to Democrats and Republicans. Voters are looking for leadership at all levels and want their voices heard. The people are attuned to the issues impacting their lives, demanding that elected officials represent their interests, regardless of political party.”
Youngkin’s strong performance in the poll came largely from a stronger approval rating than other candidates. A full 49% of respondents said they approved of Youngkin’s job performance as Governor, compared to just 39% who approve of Biden’s performance as President.
The poll also tested some issues related to recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings. Asked about prohibiting the use of affirmative action in college admissions, voters were split at 41% over whether it was a good or bad thing. Republicans were more likely to agree with the ruling (73%) while only 15% of Democrats and 45% of independents agreed with the ruling.
On the issue of student loan forgiveness — which Biden attempted to implement before the Supreme Court struck it down — 49% of Virginians said they believe the Department of Education should be able to move forward with the program. Only 42% said otherwise. Again, responses fell largely along party lines, with 80% of Democrats favoring student loan forgiveness and only 17% of Republicans and 40% of independents.
The poll also gauged sentiment on the U.S. Senate race in Virginia, in a hypothetical race between incumbent Democrat Tim Kaine and Youngkin. Unlike Biden, Kaine came out on top with 47% support to just 42% for Youngkin.
Overall though, the state appears to be leaning red. Asked which party should control the House of Delegates, 47% of Virginia voters prefer a GOP majority while only 41% would rather Democrats have control.
The poll was taken July 14-25, before news of Trump’s latest indictment, among a representative sample of 804 Virginia adults. It has a margin of error of 5.46 percentage points.
