A poll released Wednesday showed that former President Donald Trump has made gains in Virginia, a state he lost to President Joe Biden by more than 10 points four years ago.
A new survey from Roanoke College showed that Biden and Trump tied, winning 42 percent of the vote each when the options were only the presumptive Democratic and Republican candidates.
When third-party candidates were taken into account, Biden maintained a slight lead in the state, winning 40 percent to Trump’s 38 percent.
Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. received 8 percent in Virginia, while Green Party candidate Jill Stein received 3 percent and independent Cornel West received only 1 percent, in that scenario.
Thanks in part to the liberal suburbs of Washington, D.C., Virginia began voting Democratic in presidential elections that began with President Barack Obama’s victory in 2008.
President Joe Biden (left) beat former President Donald Trump (right) in Virginia by just over 10 points in 2020. The latest polls from the state show the two candidates tied in a two-person race.
Biden and Trump are tied with 42 percent of the vote in Virginia, according to a Roanoke College poll, when third-party candidates were not named on the ballot.
Biden’s 10-point victory over Trump in 2020 was the biggest victory since this trend began, but in Virginia’s 2021 free-year gubernatorial election, Republican Glenn Youngkin pulled off an upset over Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who he had previously served as governor of the state.
Biden’s current job approval in the state was at 35 percent, while Youngkin was at 52 percent, according to the poll.
Wednesday’s poll was the first Roanoke College poll to show Trump and Biden tied.
The results are within the poll’s plus or minus 4.2 percent margin of error.
Previous polls conducted in February and November showed the race was close and within the polls’ margin of error.
Virginia voters view Trump’s first term in office as better for the country: 44 percent of respondents said it was mostly good, compared to 33 percent who called it mostly bad.
Looking at Biden’s first term, 47 percent said it was mostly bad, while only 25 percent said it was mostly good.
When third-party candidates were named, Biden achieved a victory against Trump, however, it was within the poll’s plus or minus 4.2 percent margin of error.
Republicans were much more enthusiastic about Trump’s years in office than Democrats were about Biden’s, which could help explain the tightness of the current race.
A whopping 87 percent of Republican voters said Trump’s first term was generally good.
Among Democrats, only 50 percent called Biden’s tenure mostly good.
Trump previously said during his massive rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, that Virginia was among the blue-leaning states he would play for in the 2024 race.
He also said he hoped to trade New Jersey and Minnesota.