What if they held an election and nobody cared? That’s one way to read the latest PPP poll on the Virginia gubernatorial race. While Terry McAuliffe may hold a five point edge over Cuccinelli (outside the 3.8 percent margin of error), what PPP’s numbers show is that both men aren’t going to win Mr. Popularity contests any time soon:
McAuliffe’s favorability rating is 29% favorable to 33% unfavorable. Cuccinelli’s favorability is solidly negative, with 32% holding positive
views and 44% negative. Neither candidate is uniformly popular in his own party. McAuliffe elicits negative or neutral opinions from 43% of Democrats, and 44% of Republicans dislike Cuccinelli or aren’t sure.
On the upside? They aren’t running for Prom King.
Much more interesting, however, is the polling PPP did for the Democrats’ downticket races. Granted, the margin of error in this sample is quite high (5.5 percent), but the numbers do shed the first light of any kind on the LtG and AG contests.
Aneesh Chopra holds the lead in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor. He leads Ralph Northam 27%-18%. The Attorney General primary results are within the margin of error. Democrats support Mark Herring over Justin Fairfax by only 3%, at 22% for Herring to 19% for Fairfax.
In other words, those few who opt to vote on June 11th are as likely to flip a coin as they are to make an informed vote.
