Virginia looking more purple ahead of November's midterm elections

Julia Eisen – WMAL News | September 29, 2023

A new poll finds Virginia residents are almost evenly split when it comes to who they want to win control of the general assembly in November’s elections.

The University of Mary Washington (UMW) poll found that 40 percent of those surveyed want Democrats to have majorities in the Virginia State House and Senate. 37 percent want Republican majorities.

The result was surprising to UWM political science professor Dr. Stephen Farnsworth.

“The speed at which Virginia has turned to its purple state status is quite striking from this survey,” Farnsworth told WMAL News.

About 65 percent of both Democrats and Republicans told the survey that parental rights in education would be a major factor determining how they vote. Governor Glenn Youngkin has paraded the “Parents Matter” conversations across the state to appeal to those voters.

When it came to abortion, about half the voters surveyed said the matter was a major factor in how they would vote, including 70 percent of Democrats and 35 percent of Republicans.

“The Republicans used to be more motivated about abortion when it was legal nationally,” Farnsworth explained.

Control of Virginia’s general assembly will be decided in November.

WMAL News Correspondent Heather Curtis contributed to this report.

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