Trump notches Virginia lead over Biden — where GOP hasn’t won in a presidential race since 2004: poll
MILWAUKEE — Former President Donald Trump notched a slim lead over President Biden in Virginia, a state that Republicans haven’t won nationally since 2004, a new poll revealed.
Trump edged out Biden 45% to 43% while 11% of voters were undecided, as ꧂the former president displayed ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚconsiderable strength with independent voters, a new .
The men tied at 50% when undecided voters wer♛e told to pick one or the othe🏅r.
And when third-party contenders were added into the mix, Trump nabbed a larger lead, 43% to Biden’s 38%, followed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at 8%, Cornel West at 2%, Jill Stein at 2% and 8% undecided.
“𝓰In a state Biden won by 10 points in 2020, the president is now essentially tied with💖 Trump,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, explained in a statement.
What to know about the calls for President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race:
- President Biden’s poor performance in the first 2024 presidential debate left some Democrats unsure of his fitness for office and future as the party’s candidate.
- More than a dozen congressional Democrats have joined in calling for Biden’s exit from the race. Former Biden supporter George Clooney echoed these calls in an op-ed published in the New York Times just weeks after he helped lead a record-breaking fundraiser for the Democrat.
- Democratic voters have continued to raise concerns about Biden’s nomination since the debate, with speculations and suggestions for replacement nominees running rampant.
- Biden’s former running mate Barack Obama has r🐠eportedly been trying to pressure him to drop out, and had prior knowledge of Clooney’s op-ed. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi allegedly told Biden he could not beat former President Donald Trump this time around♍.
- As the Democratic National Convention approaches, California delegates for the Democratic Party are reportedly in disarray as debate over the president’s chances of re-election threatens to tear the party apart.
- However, the Biden campaign has denied any plans for Biden to bow out and for Kamala Harris to step in as the Democratic nominee. Sources close to the president believe he might not be willing to drop out, while other sources claim he is “receptive” to giving up on a second term.
“Ind🐽ependent voters break for Trump, 46% to 38%, a group that broke for Biden in 2020 by double digits.”
Other polls have gauged a similar level of compꦅetitiveness in Virginia for Trump🧔.
The 45th president is up by 0.4 percentage pa♊ges , but that dips to Biden leading by 1.7 percentage point𒊎s in a five-way contest.
Republicans have had their sights set on expanding the electoral map and have eyed Virginia as a potential pickup, despite Trump, 78, losing the Old Dominion by about 10 points in 20✃20.
“After 12 years of only electing D𒁃emocrats statewide, in November 2021, Virginians elected a Republican outside businessman as their 74th governor,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin bellowed out at the Republican National Convention on Monday.
“And I believe this year Virginia will elect another Republican outside businessman as president of the United States.”
In a matchup against Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump clinched a similar lead, dispatching her 47% to 45% with 9% un💮decided, per the Em🌳erson poll.
Overall, Biden’s approval rating is underwater with Virginia voters. Only 37% approve of his job performance, compared to 53% who disapprove.
By contrast, Youngkin’s approval clocked in at 46% while 38% disapproved.
Top issues for Virginia voters incl𓂃ude the economy (40%), housing affo💯rdability (12%), threats to democracy (9%), education (7%) and abortion (6%), according to the poll
Down ballot, incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) topped his GOP foe Hung Cao 49% to 39%. Back in 2018, during a blue wave cycle, Kᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚaine by about 16 points.
Biden’s anemic standing in the polls, coupled with elevated concerns about his mental acuity, have prompted a Democratic mutiny against him.
Democrats have confirmed this week that they won’t officially crown him the party nominee until August — while sticking with plans for a virtual roll call before the party’s convention later that month.
At least 21 Democrats in Congress, including Rep. Marie Glusenkamp Perez (D-Wash.), have called upon Biden to step aside.
Thus far,✤ Biden has refused to pass the baton as the presumptive party standard bearer.