The Roanoke College Poll: McAuliffe and Herring Hold Comfortable Leads for Governor and Attorney General

SALEM, Va., June 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Attorney General Mark Herring hold strong leads in the races for the Democratic nomination for governor and attorney general in Virginia, each registering 49% support from likely voters in Tuesday's primary election, according to The Roanoke College Poll.   

The race for lieutenant governor is open with Del. Hala Ayala leading Del. Sam Rasoul 16%-11%, with five other candidates trailing and 45% still undecided. As expected, Ayala tends to fare better in Tidewater and Northern Virginia while Rasoul does well in Southwest Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. 

Among gubernatorial candidates, former Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy trails McAuliffe with 11%; Sen. Jennifer McClellan has the support of 9% of likely voters, while Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (5%) and Del. Lee Carter (1%) lag behind. Del. Jay Jones is far behind Herring with 20% of voters saying they will vote for him for attorney general.  

The economy was most often mentioned by likely voters as the most important issue (18%), while 14% reported COVID as most important, followed by education (8%), health care (8%), economic inequality (7%), race relations (6%), climate change (6%), and gun control (5%), with several other issues registering concern. Voters are almost evenly split between preferring a candidate who best represents their interests (48%) or one who can win in November (44%). 

"To the surprise of few, McAuliffe and Herring appear headed for victory on Tuesday," said Dr. Harry Wilson, Senior Political Analyst of the Roanoke College Poll. "The race for lieutenant governor is there for the taking, with a large percentage of the electorate undecided on their decision. It is also clear that the Democratic primary electorate in Virginia is well-educated, upper-income and very liberal, but McAuliffe, arguably not the most far-left candidate, appears set to win the election." 

A total of 637 likely Democratic voters were interviewed between May 24 and June 1, and the Poll's margin of error is +3.9%. A copy of the questionnaire, topline, and crosstabs may be found here. 

SOURCE The Roanoke College Poll

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