Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are now in a tight race in Virginia, with voters largely disappointed in both candidates, according to a new poll released Thursday.
The survey from the University of Mary Washington’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies found Clinton with 40% support among likely voters in the commonwealth, while Trump trailed with 37%, within the poll’s margin of error. Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson garnered 8%, comparable to where he has been polling nationally. Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin has 3% and Green Party candidate Jill Stein has 1%.
Trump has slashed the once-sizable leads that Clinton enjoyed following the national conventions, but it might be too early to say whether the tightening has extended to Virginia.
Clinton led Trump in virtually every poll there in the summer and many forecastors believed she had a firm grip on the state’s 13 electoral votes following her selection of Tim Kaine, Virginia’s junior senator, as her running mate.
But Clinton’s post-convention edge has evaporated this month, both nationally and in crucial battleground states. A CNN/ORC poll this week found Trump leading by five in Ohio and basically tied with Clinton in Florida.
The University of Mary Washington poll was conducted September 6-12 using phone interviews with 685 likely Virginia voters. It has a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.
