Harris leads Trump by 11% in new Virginia poll

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – A new poll shows Vice President Kamala Harris leading former President Donald Trump 52% to 41% in the 2024 presidential election among likely Virginia voters. The 11% gap in the new Wason Center poll between Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, and Trump, the Republican candidate, comes as early voting is underway in Virginia for the Nov. 5 election. The poll of 800 likely voters, conducted by the Wason Center for Civic Leadership at Christopher Newport University over the phone from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, has a margin of error of +/- 4.4 percentage points. Per the poll, 4% of respondents said they were undecided between Harris and Trump and 3% said they would vote for someone else. While the gap between Harris and Trump is significant, it’s not the 20% lead Democratic incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine has over Republican nominee Hung Cao in Virginia’s U.S. Senate race. In the Kaine-Cao race, 8% of respondents in the poll said they were undecided, and 2% said they would vote for someone else.   Among likely Virginia voters surveyed for the poll, inflation and the economy are the top issues ahead of the presidential election (29%) followed by threats to democracy (18%), immigration (11%) and abortion (10%). Early voting started in Virginia on Sept. 20, and 14% of those who responded to the poll said they had already cast a ballot. Per the poll, a higher percentage of Democrats (22%) have said they have voted early compared to Republicans (11%) and independents (9%). While the poll shows a clear partisan divide of support for the candidates, 11% of Republicans surveyed said they would vote for Kaine over Cao.