McAuliffe leading Youngkin by 4 points in Virginia governor race: poll

Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) holds a 4-point lead over Republican Glenn Youngkin in the commonwealth’s off-year gubernatorial race, within the margin of error of a new JMS Analytics poll. 

Forty-six percent of respondents polled said they would vote for McAuliffe if the election was held today, while 42 percent said the same about Youngkin. Twelve percent of voters polled said they were undecided. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points. 

The latest polling comes after a WPA Intelligence poll released Friday showed McAuliffe leading Youngkin by just 2 points, 48 percent to 46 percent. That poll had a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points. 

Virginia’s general election campaign kicked off last week after McAuliffe swept the Democratic nomination. Youngkin won the Republican convention last month. 

The offices of lieutenant governor, attorney general and all 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates are  also on the ballot.  

The Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor and attorney general also lead their Republican opponents in the poll. 

Forty-two percent of respondents said they would vote for Democratic Del. Hala Ayala in the lieutenant governor’s race, while 36 percent said the same about Republican Del. Winsome Sears. In the race for state attorney general, 45 percent of respondents said they supported Democratic incumbent Mark Herring, while Republican Del. Jason Miyares received 38 percent support. Twenty-two percent and 17 percent of voters said they were undecided in the lieutenant governor and attorney general races, respectively. 

The poll was much closer on the generic ballot for the House of Delegates, with 44 percent said they would support Democrats in their district, while 43 percent said the same about Republicans. Fourteen percent said they were undecided. 

The JMC Analytics survey was conducted on June 9-12, among 550 likely Virginia voters.