Yes, it was a bad year, but not 33.7% bad. McQueeg got over a dozen points more than Gilmore in VA, and he wasn’t even attempting to run a winning race. Bob Marshall would’ve broken 40%, at least, but that’s because he was attempting to win. Had Davis competed at the primary convention, Marshall would’ve won in a three-way race.
Why was Gilmore so bad? If I remember, the main problem was Warner could self fund, so he would have way more money than any Republican.