Virginia: First General Election Poll

Harper Polling released the first Virginia 2017 post-primary general election gubernatorial survey, and the results are surprising considering how last week’s voting ended.  According to HP (6/14-16; 500 VA likely general election voters), Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie are tied at 46% support preference apiece.  This, coming from a primary vote that saw Northam exceed expectations while Gillespie under-performed most pre-election predictions.   The Harper Polling executives also said that the 8% Undecided respondents were breaking Gillespie’s way on secondary questions, 19-7%. 
 
Additionally, the tied ballot test was surprising because Northam not only had the better primary performance, but the same respondents rated him higher than Gillespie.  In terms of their respective personal favorability index scores, Northam recorded a 52:31% positive ratio, while Gillespie’s tallied 45:38%. ​