So much of the media coverage of a political cycle revolves around (or devolves into) stories about polls and fundraising totals, and this story is no different.
Well, … it’s a little different.
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In a poll of 512 Virginia likely voters conducted September 3-5, Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, has closed her polling gap with Democrat candidate Abigail Spanberger to 5% (48%-43%). This was the first poll taken since the infamous photograph of the “[Earle-Sears] can’t use my water fountain” protest sign hit the press back in late August. Earle-Sears is black.
However, that’s not all the news. For the first time since earning the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor, former Ronald Reagan and George Allen aide and radio talk show host John Reid leads his race by three percentage points over Democrat state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, 45%-42%. That’s with very little money, according to what he told The Daily Signal in an interview two weeks ago.
Early voting for the November election begins on Sept. 19, and the poll indicates that 9% of voters are still undecided in the gubernatorial race and 13% haven’t made up their mind for lieutenant governor.
As we saw in the turnout for the recent special election in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District to replace deceased Democrat Rep. Jerry Connelly, the belief that there is a chance for victory for “your side” can become a voter turnout driver. Perhaps this poll will convince contributors to help Reid close his fundraising gap. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, the most recent numbers show Hashmi has raised $3.4 million to Reid’s $4000.
As a radio talk show host myself, I can tell you that we are a breed built on doing the most with the least financially, so it seems that Reid has taken the “retail politics” to another level. According to his campaign, Hashmi has repeatedly not responded to its request to engage in a face-to-face debate. Maybe that will change now that the polling deficit is on the other foot.
