Republican incumbent Jason Miyares is leading Democrat challenger Jay Jones in the Virginia attorney general's race by 8 percentage points, according to a new Roanoke College poll.
The survey, done by the school's Institute for Policy and Opinion Research, found Miyares with 46% of the vote and Jones with 38%.
An 80% majority of respondents said they had heard or read about the text messages sent by Jones in 2022 in which he fantasized about shooting then-House of Delegates Speaker Todd Gilbert.
On Wednesday night, Miyares told Newsmax on "Rob Schmitt Tonight," that "his election has become a referendum on decency."
"The idea [Jones] wanted to put two bullets into Todd Gilbert just because he's a Republican and that he'd want to see a mother with her children die in their arms is just shocking," Miyares said.
"But there are those on the far left that want to silence the voices of people they disagree with," he added. "We saw that with what happened with the assassination of Charlie Kirk."
Pollsters found that of the early voters who had already cast their ballot for Jones, 87% said they would have voted for him regardless, while just 1% said they would have switched their vote to Miyares.
Another 5% said they would not have voted in that election and 8% did not answer the question.
"While Jones has clearly lost some support among Democrats, they have not moved over to support Miyares, suggesting they may either 'come home' in the end or simply not vote in that race," Harry Wilson, interim director of the institute, said in the survey's analysis. "As concerning for Jones, Miyares now narrowly leads among independents."
"Everyone who ever contemplates running for public office might consider holding their tongue and stilling their hands on occasion," he said.
Wilson, who is a professor emeritus of political science at Roanoke College, also said it "may be unprecedented to see such a divergence between the race for governor and attorney general."
Democrat Abigail Spanberger leads Republican Winsome Earle-Sears in the poll in the Virginia governor's race, 51%-41%, with just days to go until the Nov. 4 election. Only 4% of voters say they're still undecided, the poll found.
According to the survey, two-thirds, or 67%, of likely voters are very enthusiastic about voting, while 23% are somewhat enthusiastic.
Top issues for voters include threats to democracy, at 29%; and inflation, 24%; followed by immigration, 12%; taxes, 5%; abortion, 5%; and crime, 5%.
The poll was conducted Oct. 22-27 and surveyed 1,041 likely Virginia voters. It has a weighted margin of error of 4.05%.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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