New poll shows Harris leading in Virginia, analyst expects her to win ‘fairly comfortably’

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The latest Emerson College poll shows Vice President Kamala Harris is in the driver’s seat to win Virginia’s 13 electoral votes in the November presidential election.

The poll found that 52% of likely voters in Virginia plan to vote for Harris, compared to 44% who say they’ll support former President Donald Trump.

“Democrats seem energized and ready to vote for their person and, if they do that in Virginia, that should mean Kamala Harris is able to win the state fairly comfortably,” Randolph-Macon Political Science Professor Rich Meagher told 8News.

The poll is in sharp contrast to the last time Emerson polled a potential race between Harris and Trump, before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in July. That poll had Harris leading Trump by just two points (45%-43%).

“A lot of folks saw Kamala Harris as a sidelined person, as someone not to take seriously, but now that she has been in the race, campaigning well, particularly her very effective debate performance, I think more and more people are seeing her as a credible candidate,” Meagher said.

Meanwhile, on the Senate side, incumbent Democratic Senator Tim Kaine leads his Republican challenger Hung Cao by ten points.

“Kaine is a popular politician in Virginia,” said Meagher. “It would take a lot, a very formidable opponent to take him down. Hung Cao is a very interesting choice by the Republican Party, but he has done some odd stuff as a candidate.”

Meagher adds it’s important to note that races do tend to get tighter as we get closer to Election Day.

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