Clinton expands Va. lead over Trump to 15 points

NEWPORT NEWS
Democrat Hillary Clinton now holds a 15-point advantage over Republican Donald Trump in Virginia, according to a tracking survey released Sunday by the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University.  Clinton leads Trump among likely voters in Virginia, 44-29 percent.  “It’s crystal clear why the Trump campaign pulled staff out of Virginia this week,” said Dr. Quentin Kidd, Director of the Wason Center. “The Access Hollywood tape, along with Trump’s second debate performance and the turmoil that followed, has fundamentally made Virginia impossible for him to win.” 

The survey was conducted Oct. 11-14 among 809 likely Virginia voters, entirely after the release of the 2005 tape and the St. Louis debate. It has an overall margin of error of +/- 3.6 percent.  Clinton has doubled her lead since this series of tracking surveys began. She led Trump by 6 points, 39-33, in the baseline survey released Sept. 26.  She led by 7 points, 42-35, in the Oct. 3 release. 

In this survey, Clinton’s support among women is almost double that of Trump, 50-26 percent. For the first time, she leads among men, 37-32 percent, and among likely voters in military households, 38-32 percent. She has gained 10 points in Northern Virginia to lead Trump in that region, 55-21. “Clinton’s strong showing in Northern Virginia and her 24-point lead statewide among women block any path Trump might have to win in Virginia,” said Dr. Rachel Bitecofer, Assistant Director of the Wason Center. The Wason Center will release three more tracking polls before Election Day, Nov. 8.