The race for the Virginia’s governor’s mansion is tightening with three weeks to go. A Monmouth University poll released Tuesday shows Republican Ed Gillespie with a razor-thin lead over Virginia’s Democratic lieutenant governor Ralph Northam, 48 percent to 47 percent, Politico reports:
Gillespie’s edge, which is well within the poll’s 4.9 percent margin of error, is a 6-point swing from last month, when Northam held a lead of 49 percent to 44 percent. Over that time, Gillespie has hammered Northam with attack ads targeting the Democrat’s ostensible laxity on illegal immigration and crime, and gone after him on the issue of removing Confederate statues.
“Painting Northam as soft on crime, especially with the MS-13 gang spots, appears to have been effective. This is a game of inches right now, so any small advantage counts,” Monmouth director Patrick Murray said in a press release.
Meanwhile, Northam stumbled over the weekend on one of his campaign’s signature issues: education policy. In a recent interview with the Washington Post, Northam made the argument that because children come “from different backgrounds and different regions,” he’s “not sure that it’s fair” to apply the same testing standards across the board. This remark triggered a stern rebuke from the Post’s editorial board, which called it “part of an unfortunate trend in Virginia to pull back from rigor in assessments and accountability.” Meanwhile, the Gillespie campaign pounced on Northam’s comments, scheduling a Tuesday press conference where educators and Gillespie allies decried the sentiment.
“As a 30-year teacher, I was very surprised—and disturbed—by the lieutenant governor’s comments,” Virginia House majority leader Kirk Cox said on the call. “One of the worst things we can do in our education system is to tell a child they are not capable of achieving at the same level as their peers. … It’s a regrettable suggestion, and one that has no place in our conversation on education innovation.”
