Call it a reversal or a tidal wave, whatever you call it, the last Fox News poll of the Virginia governor’s race is sure to cause upheaval and last-minute terror to the campaign of former Governor Terry McAuliffe. The same poll, just weeks ago, showed McAuliffe with a five-point advantage.
Today, however, with just days to go to Election Day on Nov. 2, Republican Glenn Youngkin has turned a 10 point deficit in September into as much as an 8 point lead according to the latest numbers from Fox News’ polling unit:
The shakeup in the race which has steadily been trending in Youngkin’s direction seems to be unstoppable at this point. Despite many heavy hitters stumping for McAuliffe, from former President Barack Obama to Vice President Kamala Harris, nothing has seemed to get his campaign back on the road after driving squarely in the ditch with his comments about parents and education. McAuliffe has continued to double-down on his statement and continually dismiss concerns of parents, a costly mistake.
Youngkin has picked up steam across all demographics and all regions of the state, with off-the-chart enthusiasm among Republicans driving the numbers:
Republican Glenn Youngkin has moved ahead of Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia governor’s race, less than a week before the election.
McAuliffe receives 45 percent to Youngkin’s 53 percent in a new Fox News survey of Virginia likely voters. Youngkin’s eight-point advantage is outside the poll’s margin of sampling error.
That’s a big shift from two weeks ago, when McAuliffe was ahead by five, 51-46 percent.
What changed? GOP enthusiasm. The race is largely focused on education and this has energized Republicans, as 79 percent of Youngkin supporters are “extremely” interested in the election compared to 69 percent of McAuliffe supporters.
A stunning reversal, as noted, since the previous Fox News poll found McAuliffe at +5 in friendlier territory back on Oct. 14.
Once the latest Fox News poll is added to the mix, the RealClearPolitics average of polls will likely flip slightly in Youngkin’s direction for the first time in this entire race:
For weeks now, it seemed as if McAuliffe was unable to get out of the high forties, a very bad spot for a well-known politician and former governor of the state he’s trying to govern for a second time.
It appears that Youngkin’s focus on education and getting parents back in charge of the classroom is making huge inroads with suburban voters who feel shut out and disregarded by Democrats at all levels of government. President Biden’s failed leadership at the national level is also likely undermining McAuliffe’s cause.
Fox News isn’t the only one out with positive numbers for Youngkin tonight. Another poll, reported by the Washington Examiner, also shows Youngkin up four points over McAuliffe:
An internal poll found Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin ahead of Democratic former Gov. Terry McAuliffe by 4 percentage points, signaling significant gains in a competitive race for Virginia governor.
The Republican Winsome Sears for Lieutenant Governor Campaign poll conducted by co/efficient , provided exclusively to the Washington Examiner, found Youngkin with 47% support among likely voters and McAuliffe with 43%. Third-party candidate Princess Blanding had 5% support, and another 5% were undecided.
Internal polling can always be suspect, but it trends right along with the public polling right now so there’s little reason to doubt its veracity. It’s looking more and more like Youngkin’s race to lose at this point.
Update
Right on cue, RealClearPolitics has updated their pollis, Youngkin now leads on average for the first time this entire race:
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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