Christopher Newport University Poll Shows We Have a Lot of Work to Do Before Election Day

A new poll released October 7th, by the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University, shows a significant enthusiasm gap between Democrats and Republicans going into the final month of the campaign. According to the poll, Democrats are leading Republicans by 13 points among likely voters, 49% to 36%, with a huge advantage over Republicans on voter enthusiasm, 62% to 49%. The poll also notes that 84% of Democrats say they will "definitely vote," compared with 74% of Republicans and 75% of independents:

"Given the significant interest and enthusiasm gaps measured in this survey, we expect some version of the Trump bump to manifest in the 2019 Virginia state legislative elections,” said Rachel Bitecofer, the study’s author and the Wason Center’s elections analyst.

Voters are more likely to vote for candidates advocating gun control than those who do not, the poll found, with 83% of likely voters in favor of expanding background checks and 67% of likely voters indicating they would be more likely to support a candidate who supports banning assault weapons.

The results of the poll were based on 726 interviews of active, registered voters in Virginia including 238 on landline and 489 on cellphone.  The poll was conducted Sept. 4 through Sept. 30 and is the first of three surveys the Wason Center will conduct on the upcoming 2019 Virginia state legislative elections.

We have our work cut out for us to say the least.