Newsweek: “The gubernatorial race in Virginia remains close with just two weeks remaining until voters elect their next governor on November 2.
Statewide voter surveys conducted in recent weeks have shown a tightening race between Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin, the leading candidates on the ballot. Both candidates have received endorsements from top members of their respective parties ahead of what some political strategists have said is likely to be an indicator of voting in the 2022 midterm elections.
Virginia, which does not allow its governor to serve consecutive terms in office, is one of two states holding a regularly scheduled gubernatorial election this fall. McAuliffe is a former governor who served in Virginia from 2014 to 2018, after which he was succeeded by sitting Governor Ralph Northam, a fellow Democrat.
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As the McAuliffe and Youngkin campaigns push to raise voter awareness and support ahead of the November 2 election, polling results released through Monday showed a close race. One poll released by Fox News last week that was conducted between October 10 and 13 showed McAuliffe with a 5-point lead over Youngkin among likely voters, with an earlier Fox News poll conducted near the end of September finding a 4-point McAuliffe lead among registered voters. Polls conducted last month by researchers with Public Policy Polling and Monmouth University reported divides among voters between 3 and 5 percent, with McAuliffe in the lead in both surveys.
While an Emerson College poll from mid-September found McAuliffe ahead of Youngkin by 4 points, a more recent survey Emerson College pollsters conducted earlier this month found the candidates nearly tied, an outcome similar to one reported in mid-October by pollsters with Trafalgar Group.
Polling averages compiled by RealClearPolitics showed McAuliffe with a 2.2 lead as of October 14. McAuliffe’s lead was slightly greater in polling averages compiled by FiveThirtyEight, which found the Democrat with a 2.9 percent lead over Youngkin as of October 15.”