Election 2019:Virginia independents show a preference for Democratic control of the General Assembly

With every seat in the Virginia General Assembly up for election on Nov. 5, Virginians are almost evenly split when asked which party they would prefer to have control of the state legislature. However, independents show a clearer preference for Democratic control, according to a new poll released Wednesday by the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The poll, conducted by landline and cellphone from Sept. 23 to Oct. 4, is based on a random sample of 800 adults in Virginia with an overall margin of error of 4.08 percentage points.

When asked about party control of the General Assembly, 47% of respondents preferred Democrats and 46% preferred Republicans. When asked the same about Congress, 49% preferred Democrats and 46% preferred Republicans.

Partisan loyalty was strong in both cases with more than 9-in-10 of both Republicans and Democrats preferring control by their own party. However, independents were almost evenly split, with a slight preference for Democrats controlling Congress (46%) and the General Assembly (46%), compared to a Republican-controlled Congress (45%) and General Assembly (41%). Independents also contained a higher percentage of don’t knows (9% for control of Congress, 13% for control of the General Assembly).

Those in Northern Virginia and the Tidewater region were more likely to prefer Democratic control of the General Assembly, with 58% and 53% respectively, while those in the Northwest and West were more likely to favor Republican control, with 61% each. The South Central region was fairly evenly split, with 48% favoring Democratic control and 45% favoring Republican control. Women, minorities and those with a college degree were more likely to prefer Democratic control of both the General Assembly and Congress.




https://news.vcu.edu/article/Virginia_independents_show_a_preference_for_Democratic_control