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Democrat Ralph Northam has won Virginia's race for governor. Early unofficial results show Northam defeated Republican Ed Gillespie on Tuesday. Virginia's hard-fought race was closely watched as a swing-state test of President Donald Trump's popularity. Northam, a pediatric neurologist and the state's lieutenant governor, repeatedly tried to tie Gillespie to the president during months of divisive campaigning overshadowed by racial overtones and attack ads. Northam's victory was in large part due to a surge in anti-Trump energy since the president took office. Democrats said they had record levels of enthusiasm heading into the race. Gillespie kept Trump at a distance...

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WSET) - The latest poll from Christopher Newport University has Democratic candidate Ralph Northam in the lead to be Virginia's next governor. The poll from the Wason Center for Public Policy shows Northam broke the 50 percent mark and extended his lead over Republican candidate Ed Gillespie. The poll shows Northam is the choice for 50 percent of likely voters surveyed, while Gillespie is the choice of 43 percent. According to the poll, Libertarian Cliff Hyra polled at 3 percent with 4 percent undecided. (snip) The poll shows Northam is the choice for 50 percent of likely...

The FBI just carried out a raid on the Annapolis office of a Republican party fundraising firm called Strategic Campaign Group, leading to widespread questions about what connection the raid might have to the FBI’s ongoing investigation of the Donald Trump campaign. Palmer Report’s research team determined that the firm in question is in fact connected to Trump campaign advisers Paul Manafort and Roger Stone.

Let me begin by noting that, as a “small ‘L’” libertarian, I find some of Ken Cuccinelli’s policy positions deeply disconcerting. That said, I will gladly pull the (computerized) lever for him on Tuesday, because his opponent – who has never held elected office and whose sole claim to fame is being a high-dollar fundraiser for Bill Clinton – is so very much worse on almost every issue. In this case, there’s a titular Libertarian running, but in truth, if you look beyond a couple of social issues, he seems far less libertarian than Cuccinelli himself. In fact, here’s an...

  I'm passing these two observations from liberal Virginia bloggers on to readers, but they're so out of line with expectations, I have a hard time buying them.First, from Not Larry Sabato, about the Virginia delegate races: "SIX SEATS ARE GONE — ANOTHER NINE ARE IN PLAY FOR GOP PICKUP." Yesterday I predicted a GOP gain of six seats; I think most Virginia Republicans saw picking up 11 as their best-case scenario.Then, from Blue Virginia: I'm a bit skeptical of this, so take it with as big a grain of salt as you'd like, but it's from an excellent source....

I could just as easily have titled this "Why Bob McDonnell is winning." Let's start with the candidate. As Virginia uber-blogger Not Larry Sabato points out, a governor is a manager. Voters intuitively understand this, and so they look to the candidate who seems to be the best manager. Creigh Deeds doesn't come off as a confident, crisp, efficient manager; Bob McDonnell does. The dynamics of an open seat, with a much narrower pool of voters, a re-energized Republican Party -- these conditions were expected, and they were satisfied. Deeds's climb would be uphill. Also: Virginians fell in love with...

Democratic enthusiasm for President Barack Obama's liberal domestic agenda—particularly for a government-run health insurance program—could wane after the results of the gubernatorial elections next Tuesday in Virginia and New Jersey. GOP victories in either state will tell Democrats in red states and districts that support for Obama's policies is risky to their political health. The more significant is the open race for governor in Virginia, a purple state. The Washington Post poll released Monday showed 55% support for Republican Attorney General Bob McDonnell and 44% for Democratic State Senator Creigh Deeds. The president is trying to reverse these numbers by...

The latest SurveyUSA poll showing Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee Bob McDonnell with a 19% lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds (which would be the biggest win for any Virginia Governor of either party since 1961) has some interesting internals. One of the strangest findings is that McDonnell is getting 31% of the African American vote. Is this possible? Well, the smart money would say no. But if you want to construct an argument for SurveyUSA being correct, consider the following: (1) In 2006, George Allen came about as close as he could have come to dropping an "n-bomb" on a person...

In the final days of the gubernatorial campaign, a new poll shows Bob McDonnell with an 18 point margin over his Democratic opponent Creigh Deeds, according to a statewide survey conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University. The poll finds 54 perfect of likely voters support or lean to McDonnell, 36 percent support or lean to Deeds. A 56 percent majority of independents are siding with or leaning to McDonnell, 29 percent of independents are siding with or leaning to Deeds. The poll also indicates both candidates do well with rank-and-file members of their respective political parties. Even though some observers have...

Virginia Democrats hope President Obama's campaign stop today in Norfolk will boost Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds' standing, but most in a new Washington Post poll say the president will not affect their vote. Seven in 10 say Obama is not a factor in their choice. And among those who say they'll take him into account, 14% say their vote will be to express support for Obama, 15% to indicate opposition. The ongoing debate in Washington over health care also splits the electorate. A narrow majority (53%) opposes the legislation being developed - while 43% favor it. Virginians are more...

With one week to go before voters in Virginia head to the polls, Republican Robert McDonnell has a double-digit lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds according to a new Washington Post poll. Here are selected crosstabs from the new poll of 1,206 likely voters. Q. If the election were being held today and the candidates were Creigh Deeds, the Democrat and Bob McDonnell, the Republican, for whom would you vote? Deeds McDonnell All likely voters 44% 55% More results and question wording from the poll can be found here. Men 39 59 Women 48 50 White 34 64 African American 89...

Republican Robert McDonnell carries a double-digit lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds into the final week of the campaign for Virginia governor, according to a new Washington Post poll. The Republican, briefly buffeted in the polls by voters' initial reaction to the publication of his 1989 graduate school thesis, has rebounded to big advantages on the top issues, particularly taxes, and is now seen as the more effective leader, more honest and more empathetic. McDonnell is also buoyed by support outside of Northern Virginia, where he is currently outperforming all other top-of-the-ticket Republican candidates this decade. Statewide, McDonnell now leads Deeds...

Arlington, Va. — Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell faces a challenge pretty unfamiliar to Republicans lately: What do you do when things look good for your campaign? The polls showing McDonnell up by double digits over Democrat Creigh Deeds are starting to come in bunches — 14 percentage points in the Virginian-Pilot poll, 12 points in the Public Policy Polling survey, a jaw-dropping 19 points in SurveyUSA. Even the closer polls put McDonnell up by a margin wider than those by which the last two Virginia governors (both Democrats) won their races. Polls on the lower-ticket races for lieutenant governor...

A new poll out this morning shows Bob McDonnell extending his lead in the Virginia gubernatorial race two weeks before Election Day. McDonnell now leads his Democratic opponent, Creigh Deeds 49-41. Ten percent of voters remain undecided in the contest. The poll of 605 registered voters was conducted by Clarus research over the weekend. In Clarus' last poll, taken in Sept., McDonnell led by 5 points with 20% undecided. Internals from the poll show McDonnell gaining among women, independents and voters outside the populous D.C. suburbs. Despite weeks of Democratic attacks over his 1989 master's thesis -- attacks which focused...

NORFOLK – Election Day is November 3. A new poll from WVEC, the Virginian-Pilot and Christopher Newport University shows Republican Bob McDonnell is comfortably ahead of Democratic challenger Creigh Deeds in the race for Virginia governor. If the election for Governor were held today, for whom would you be most likely to vote? Bob McDonnell: 44.7% Creigh Deeds: 30.9% Undecided: 21.9% CNU professor and pollster Quentin Kidd says with so many voters on the fence, Deeds has a chance, albeit a slim one at this point. "It suggests the Deeds campaign has room in the voting population out there to...

In advance of President Obama campaigning for Creigh Deeds next week in Virginia's upcoming gubernatorial contest, Team Deeds has just announced that Bill Clinton -- along with Terry McAuliffe, whom Deeds defeated in the Dem primary -- will stump for Deeds tomorrow in Northern Virginia. Democrats are trying to do everything they can to narrow a race that Republican Bob McDonnell is comfortably leading, according to the polls.

Bob McDonnell has spent the last several years on the path of moderation. By keeping to that middle path, he can be the governor Virginia needs in these tough economic times. He is, make no mistake, conservative. But despite the baggage that a fringe of the Republican Party has heaped on that term, and despite some aspects of McDonnell's past, it isn't synonymous with intolerance and mean-spirited social crusades. It should connote a commitment to conserving. Now and in the future, Virginia needs to conserve and protect tax dollars, core government services, our natural resources and our business-friendly reputation. McDonnell...

  The Washington Post’s endorsement of Creigh Deeds is one of the least-surprising newspaper endorsements of all time, and yet, it demonstrates a certain audaciousness on the part of that paper’s editors.The Post endorses Democrats in almost every statewide and national race; the rare exceptions tend to come in races where it will make no significant difference. (The editors endorsed Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s reelection bid in 2006, a year in which he looked pretty doomed from the start.) They repeatedly endorsed Rep. Jim Moran despite his embarrassing behavior.If the paper’s endorsement editorials began, “we are, by and large, liberals,...

Today’s Washington Post endorsement of Democrat R. Creigh Deeds in the Virginia gubernatorial race is no surprise, given the Post’s determined and months-long effort to “macaca” Deeds’ opponent, Republican Bob McDonnell. But the editorial endorsement is a self-parody of liberal hyperbole and inconsistency. The Post again raises the strawman of McDonnell’s 1989 graduate dissertation, apparently cribbing from Ted Kennedy’s infamous denunciation of Robert Bork’s nomination to the Supreme Court. On July 1, 1987, within an hour of Bork’s nomination, Kennedy delivered a fiery speech saying, “Robert Bork’s America is a land in which women would be forced into back alley...

Gubernatorial candidates Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell have toured, tailgated and twittered to win an elusive, college-age voting bloc. Efforts from the campaigns, both Democrat and Republican, to improve student voter turn-out, however, may only go so far at the University, where apathy, registration confusion and pre-voting numbers seem to foreshadow a potentially low turnout. Charlottesville General Registrar Sheri Iachetta said gubernatorial races historically bring in fewer voters than presidential elections, and that this year, absentee turnout might fall to 40 percent, lower than what it has usually been in previous years.