A new poll of likely Virginia Republican primary voters shows Donald Trump with a 14-point lead over his closest competitor, Florida senator Marco Rubio. In the Monmouth University poll, Trump has support from 41 percent of those surveyed, with Rubio earning 27 percent support.
Ted Cruz, the Texas senator, has 14 percent support while John Kasich and Ben Carson each have 7 percent support.
The 14-point margin is the same size as another recent Virginia poll, though it found both Trump and Rubio with lower overall support (33 percent and 19 percent, respectively). That poll, from an outfit called Overtime Politics, was taken before former Florida governor Jeb Bush had dropped out of the race, giving him 8 percent support, while Kasich earned double the support he has in Thursday’s Monmouth poll.
Another poll of Virginia from before the South Carolina primary, from Christopher Newport University, found a much closer margin separating Trump and Rubio—just six points, 28 percent to 22 percent.
Rubio will campaign in the Old Dominion this coming weekend, hitting four stops across the state. If the latest Monmouth poll accurately reflects the state of the race, will that be enough for Rubio to catch Trump?
Virginia Republicans will vote on March 1, when several other states across the country, especially in the southeast, will hold their nominating contests.
