Poll highlights partisan differences of commonwealth voters

(The Center Square) — A Roanoke College poll was released Tuesday, revealing insights into the commonwealth's political makeup and the wide gulf between Democratic and Republican popular opinion.

“One big takeaway continues to be the chasm between the views of Democrats and Republicans,” said Harry Wilson, senior political analyst for the institute and professor emeritus of political science at the college. “None of it is new, but it is remarkable that partisans interpret everything through different lenses.”

More Republicans and Democrats supported their party’s candidates than weren’t in every case – and equally unsupportive of the others' candidates.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin polled an 84% job approval rating among Republicans; only 36% of Democrats think Youngkin is doing a good job as governor. And despite President Joe Biden’s leaving the presidential race, 73% of Democrats still approve of how he’s held office, compared to just 12% of Republicans.

Favorability ratings for Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump were similar: 77% of Democrats view Harris favorably, and 80% of Republicans had a favorable opinion of Trump. Just 5% of Republicans have a favorable impression of Harris, and only 6% of Democrats see Trump favorably.

Perhaps more surprising, however, in a state often described politically as “deep purple,” is the distribution of Virginians’ party affiliations, which reflected a very thin Democratic majority. Those surveyed identified as 32% Democrat, 30% Republican and 27% independent.

In addition to their take on candidates, respondents were also asked their opinion of American political institutions and the country's overall direction.

Most Democrats believed the country was headed in the right direction (55%), compared to 10% of Republicans. Nearly three times as many Republicans – 72-25% – approved of the majority conservative Supreme Court as Democrats. Both parties are disappointed with Congress, which garnered a job approval rating of just 28% among Democrats and 21% among Republicans.