The Roanoke College Poll: Northam and Gillespie Deadlocked

SALEM, Va., Nov. 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- With just days remaining in the campaign, Democrat Gubernatorial candidate Ralph Northam and Republican Ed Gillespie are tied (47%-47%), while Libertarian Cliff Hyra garners three percent of likely voters, and only three percent remain undecided, according to The Roanoke College Poll. The Institute for Policy and Opinion Research interviewed 781 likely voters in Virginia between October 29 and November 2 and has a margin of error of +3.5 percent.

Democrat Justin Fairfax and Republican Jill Vogel are tied (45%-45%) in the race for lieutenant governor, and incumbent Democrat Mark Herring and Republican John Adams are also tied (46%-46%) in the attorney general contest.

The economy and health care continue to dominate as the most important issues in the campaign. Economic issues are seen as most important by 20 percent of respondents with another seven percent saying taxes and one percent referencing debt. Healthcare was named as the most important issue by 16 percent of likely voters, while education was thought to be most important by 10 percent.

Among two important groups, Northam leads among ideological moderates (56%-34%), and trails Gillespie among political Independents (49%-40%). Northam has the support of 94 percent of Democrats, while Gillespie is supported by 94 percent of Republicans. Liberals favor Northam (89%-4%) while Conservatives prefer Gillespie (81%-17%).

"Gillespie has improved his position among self-identified Independents," said Harry Wilson, director of the Roanoke College Poll. "More of those respondents say they lean toward the Republicans than we saw in our most recent poll and they moved the results  favorably toward Gillespie and Republicans, but not President Trump. As we noted in the last poll, Republicans closed well in the 2013 and 2014 elections. This one may be following the same script."

More information and details available at: https://www.roanoke.edu/about/news/rc_poll_politics_nov_2017

SOURCE The Roanoke College Poll