Steve Burns
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON – (WMAL) While all attention is on the Governor’s race in Virginia, the race for Lieutenant Governor is also shaping up to be tight, and polls indicate there may be some surprises ahead on Election Night.

The latest poll from Christopher Newport University shows the Lieutenant Governor’s race tighter than the Governor’s race, with Democrat Justin Fairfax in a statistical tie with Republican Jill Vogel. Fairfax has a slight edge on Vogel, at 47 percent to 44 percent, but it is within the poll’s margin of error at plus or minus 3.8 percent.

CNU political scientist Quentin Kidd said the numbers indicate some voters may be voting for Democrat Ralph Northam for Governor and Vogel under him, while others might hold off on voting for Governor altogether, but still cast a ballot for Vogel.

“There are some people who simply aren’t going to vote at the top of the ticket,” Kidd told WMAL. “They couldn’t vote for Northam, but they also find themselves uncomfortable with Ed Gillespie. But they like Jill Vogel.”

CNU’s poll shows a wider separation in support between Northam, at 50 percent, and Fairfax, at 47 percent, than between Gillespie, at 43 percent, and Vogel, at 44 percent.

A Governor and Lieutenant Governor from different parties would not be unprecedented. It last happened when Republican Bill Bolling served under Democrat Tim Kaine from 2006 to 2010. Democrat Don Beyer also served under Republican George Allen from 1994 to 1998.

The Lieutenant Governor’s main duty is to serve as a tiebreaking vote in the Senate, and to serve as the Governor’s potential understudy. Kidd suggested a Governor from one party might try to cut out a Lieutenant Governor from a different party.

“It might be a very lonely existence for a Lieutenant Governor Vogel (under Northam),” Kidd said. “But, presumably, she would be already thinking about running for Governor four years from now.”

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