RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — With early voting set to begin in Virginia next week, three new polls show that Vice President Kamala Harris remains in the driver’s seat to win Virginia’s 13 electoral votes in November.
“This is not going to be close,” said Larry Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “Donald Trump has never been popular in Virginia and he isn’t now.”
Two polls released this week, conducted before Tuesday night’s debate, one from VCU’s Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs and another from the Washington Post and the Schar School, found that Harris has an 8% lead over former President Donald Trump in Virginia. Meanwhile, a separate Morning Consult poll found that Harris leads Trump 52%-42% in Virginia.
“To have three polls come out almost simultaneously with Harris up eight to ten points pretty much answers the question of whether Virginia is going to be competitive or not,” Sabato told 8News.
Sabato says the new polling should put an end to any talk of Trump winning Virginia, especially after the debate.
“If the debate is included in the calculus, then you would expect a point of two or three to be added to Harris. She cleaned his clock,” Sabato said.
Plus, Sabato adds that Harris’ popularity in Virginia may also help Democratic congressional candidates in close races.
“It’s not going to transform a race that is being led by one candidate by ten points or so, but if it’s a close race, it can make a difference.”