Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s lead over President Donald Trump in Virginia has plunged to just five points among likely voters, putting the state back in the “battleground” category, according to a poll released Thursday by the Judy Ford Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University.
Forty-eight percent of poll respondents support Biden, while 43 percent support Trump. The poll’s five point margin for Biden is the lowest lead for the former vice president in Virginia in the 2020 election cycle.
The poll of 796 registered likely voters in Virginia was conducted between September 9 and September 21 and has a margin of error of 3.9 percent.
The results show a nine point drop in support for Biden in Virginia in just one month. Two polls of the state conducted in late August and early September showed Biden with a 14 point lead over Trump.
A Virginia Commonwealth University poll released on September 15 showed Biden with a 53 percent to 39 percent lead over Trump.
A Roanoke College poll released on August 26 also showed Biden with a 53 percent to 39 percent lead over Trump.
The statement accompanying the poll released on Thursday by Dr. Quentin Kidd, director of the Judy Ford Wason Center for Public Policy, identified the following key findings in the presidential race:
- Joe Biden leads Republican Donald Trump by 5 points, 48%-43%, among likely Virginia voters. Among the most enthusiastic likely voters, Biden’s lead grows to 8 points, 51%-43%.
- Biden’s lead over Trump is built on a 6-point enthusiasm advantage among Democratic voters over Republican voters. Biden also has a 27-point advantage over Trump among women in the most enthusiastic voters, and holds Trump to a draw among voters 45 and older.
- Voters strongly disapprove of the direction of the country is heading, 76%-16%, with 56% disapproving of the job Donald Trump is doing as president.
At the state level:
- Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) leads Republican challenger Daniel Gade “by 13 points among likely Virginia voters, 52%-39%. Warner’s lead drops to 11 points among the most enthusiastic likely voters, 52%-41%.”
- While 47% disapprove of the direction the Commonwealth is going, Governor Ralph Northam’s approval rating is steady at 53%.
Breitbart News asked poll director Dr. Quentin Kidd if a poll showing Biden with a lead of just five points indicates his support is slipping in Virginia and if the state can now be considered a battleground state.
“I don’t know whether Biden’s support has been slipping. We have it as a five to eight percent. Hillary won by five so it looks pretty normal to me. I can’t speak to other polls,” Kidd told Breitbart News Thursday morning.
“We’ve been pretty spot on for the last five or six or seven years. We’ve had a pretty good run for the past six or seven years. We were pretty accurate in 2018 [in the Congressional mid-term elections. I was the only poll that called the Republican primary in Virginia in 2016, showing Sen. Rubio’s strength here,” Kidd added.