A new poll shows former Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., has a noticeable lead over former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, R, in a hypothetical matchup in the state’s lieutenant governor election next year.
With a full slate of candidates already running for governor, and an opening for the No. 2 spot, Webb would defeat Gilmore in an election held today by a margin of 40-30 percent, according to Public Policy Polling. Thirty-one percent said they were “unsure.”
Gilmore, who served as governor of Virginia from 1998-2002, ended his bid for the Republican nomination in February after consistently receiving dismal poll numbers and a poor showing in the Iowa primary and New Hampshire caucuses.
Webb served as senator for the Old Dominion State from 2007-13, and before that was secretary of the Navy. He ended his campaign for the Democratic nomination in October, citing differences with the party, and briefly flirted with the idea of an independent bid.
A decade and a half since leaving the governor’s mansion, Gilmore has actually been forgotten by a majority of the Virginia electorate, PPP found. Fifty-three percent of participants said they had no opinion of him one way or another, and 27 percent said they view him unfavorably, while 20 percent said favorably.
Back in 2008, Gilmore attempted a brief but unsuccessful run for the GOP presidential nomination, and later that year lost a bid for Senate 65-34 percent to his gubernatorial successor, Mark Warner.
The survey of 1,032 Virginia voters was conducted June 13-15.
