By John Celock
A second poll in as many days shows the Democratic nominee for Virginia governor holding a lead over his Republican rival.
A Quinnipiac Poll released Wednesday shows Democratic nominee Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam with a six point lead over Republican Ed Gillespie in the competitive governor’s race. The poll comes a day after another poll showed Northam with a five point lead over Gillespie.
The Quinnipiac poll showed Northam leading Gillespie 44 percent to 38 percent with four percent for Libertarian nominee Cliff Hyra. A poll Tuesday from Virginia Commonwealth University showed Northam with a 42 percent to 37 percent lead over Gillespie, with six percent for Hyra.
The polling in the Virginia governor’s race has shown a competitive race between Northam, a one term lieutenant governor and former state legislator, and Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman. The two are battling in swing state Virginia to succeed term limited Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D).
The poll indicates that voters said that health care is the top issue in the race. Thirty six percent of voters said health care, followed by 25 percent saying the economy and 16 percent saying education. Voters surveyed said that Northam would do a better job with health care and education, while the survey pointed to Gillespie believed to do a better job with the economy and taxes. The poll showed those surveyed tied on which candidate would do a better job with immigration.
The poll also indicated that President Donald Trump has a 61 percent disapproval rating in Virginia with a 36 percent approval rating. McAuliffe had a 51 percent approval rating and a 35 percent disapproval rating.