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| Virginians mostly welcome Democratic takeover, CNU survey finds. | Virginians mostly welcome Democratic takeover, CNU survey finds. |
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| RICHMOND — Virginia voters want stricter gun laws, nonpartisan redistricting, marijuana decriminalization, a minimum-wage increase and passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, but they oppose giving local government control over Confederate monuments, according to a new poll by the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University. | |
| By a 10-point margin (51 percent to 41 percent), voters say they approve of the outcome of November elections, which gave Democrats control of the state House and Senate. With Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam already in the Executive Mansion, the party will hold all the levers of state government for the first time in a generation. | By a 10-point margin (51 percent to 41 percent), voters say they approve of the outcome of November elections, which gave Democrats control of the state House and Senate. With Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam already in the Executive Mansion, the party will hold all the levers of state government for the first time in a generation. |
| Virginians seem ready for many of the changes Democrats are promising to usher in when the General Assembly reconvenes in January. That includes gun control, which some rural and suburban localities have said they will not enforce by declaring themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries.” | Virginians seem ready for many of the changes Democrats are promising to usher in when the General Assembly reconvenes in January. That includes gun control, which some rural and suburban localities have said they will not enforce by declaring themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries.” |
| In Virginia, and elsewhere, gun supporters prepare to defy new laws | In Virginia, and elsewhere, gun supporters prepare to defy new laws |
| By large margins, voters support requiring background checks on all gun sales (86 percent to 13 percent) and passing a “red flag” law to allow guns to be temporarily removed from someone deemed a threat (73 percent to 23 percent). By a smaller margin (54 percent to 44 percent), they back a ban on assault-style weapons. | By large margins, voters support requiring background checks on all gun sales (86 percent to 13 percent) and passing a “red flag” law to allow guns to be temporarily removed from someone deemed a threat (73 percent to 23 percent). By a smaller margin (54 percent to 44 percent), they back a ban on assault-style weapons. |
| Voters strongly support passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (80 percent to 13 percent), which is meant to enshrine women’s equality in the U.S. Constitution. Passage would make Virginia the 38th — and theoretically last — state needed for ratification, although critics say the deadline passed long ago. | Voters strongly support passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (80 percent to 13 percent), which is meant to enshrine women’s equality in the U.S. Constitution. Passage would make Virginia the 38th — and theoretically last — state needed for ratification, although critics say the deadline passed long ago. |
| ERA bill dies for good in GOP-controlled Virginia House of Delegates | ERA bill dies for good in GOP-controlled Virginia House of Delegates |
| Voters line up with Democrats on several other issues, including decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana (83 percent support, 14 percent oppose) and raising the minimum wage (72 percent support, 28 percent oppose). | Voters line up with Democrats on several other issues, including decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana (83 percent support, 14 percent oppose) and raising the minimum wage (72 percent support, 28 percent oppose). |
| Voters also strongly support amending the state constitution to take political mapmaking out of politicians’ hands and give it to a nonpartisan redistricting commission. Some Democrats who pushed for the panel last year appear to be having second thoughts now that they are about to take the majority. Some do not want to give up the chance to draw maps favorable to their party. But voters still heavily favor nonpartisan redistricting (70 percent to 15 percent). | Voters also strongly support amending the state constitution to take political mapmaking out of politicians’ hands and give it to a nonpartisan redistricting commission. Some Democrats who pushed for the panel last year appear to be having second thoughts now that they are about to take the majority. Some do not want to give up the chance to draw maps favorable to their party. But voters still heavily favor nonpartisan redistricting (70 percent to 15 percent). |
| Voters have mixed views on measures meant to make it easier to vote, another priority for Democrats. The poll finds that voters support automatic voter registration (64 percent to 31 percent), but oppose no-excuse absentee voting (51 percent to 44 percent). | Voters have mixed views on measures meant to make it easier to vote, another priority for Democrats. The poll finds that voters support automatic voter registration (64 percent to 31 percent), but oppose no-excuse absentee voting (51 percent to 44 percent). |
| On the subject of Confederate monuments, most voters line up with the traditional Republican position to protect them. A majority (51 percent to 44 percent) opposes giving localities the authority to remove or alter the monuments. | On the subject of Confederate monuments, most voters line up with the traditional Republican position to protect them. A majority (51 percent to 44 percent) opposes giving localities the authority to remove or alter the monuments. |
| The poll finds that Northam continues to recover from a scandal that erupted in February, when a racist photo surfaced from his 1984 medical school yearbook. But two Democrats interested in succeeding Northam when his term expires in January 2022 — Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and Attorney General Mark Herring — have not bounced back as well from their own controversies. | The poll finds that Northam continues to recover from a scandal that erupted in February, when a racist photo surfaced from his 1984 medical school yearbook. But two Democrats interested in succeeding Northam when his term expires in January 2022 — Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and Attorney General Mark Herring — have not bounced back as well from their own controversies. |
| Voters in the Old Dominion, the only Southern state that Donald Trump lost in the 2016 presidential election, continue to take a dim view of the president, according to the survey. But his approval rating has inched up since October, at the height of legislative campaigns that many Democrats pitched as a referendum on him. | Voters in the Old Dominion, the only Southern state that Donald Trump lost in the 2016 presidential election, continue to take a dim view of the president, according to the survey. But his approval rating has inched up since October, at the height of legislative campaigns that many Democrats pitched as a referendum on him. |
| Voters’ view of the state’s direction is slightly more positive than negative, with 48 percent saying that things in Virginia are moving in the right direction and 41 percent saying they are moving in the wrong direction. | Voters’ view of the state’s direction is slightly more positive than negative, with 48 percent saying that things in Virginia are moving in the right direction and 41 percent saying they are moving in the wrong direction. |
| “That assessment is about the same as in Wason Center surveys in April and October 2019, but significantly worse than a year ago, when 64% of voters thought Virginia was going in the right direction and 25% thought the direction was wrong,” a Wason Center summary of the poll said. | “That assessment is about the same as in Wason Center surveys in April and October 2019, but significantly worse than a year ago, when 64% of voters thought Virginia was going in the right direction and 25% thought the direction was wrong,” a Wason Center summary of the poll said. |
| Virginians’ take on the country’s direction is far more negative. Just 29 percent say the nation is heading in the right direction, while 55 percent say it is heading in the wrong direction. | Virginians’ take on the country’s direction is far more negative. Just 29 percent say the nation is heading in the right direction, while 55 percent say it is heading in the wrong direction. |
| “That assessment has generally worsened since January 2017,” the summary said, referring to the month Trump took office, “but the marked contrast between voters’ more favorable judgment about the state and their more negative judgment about the nation is common across years of Wason Center surveys, under governors and presidents of both parties.” | “That assessment has generally worsened since January 2017,” the summary said, referring to the month Trump took office, “but the marked contrast between voters’ more favorable judgment about the state and their more negative judgment about the nation is common across years of Wason Center surveys, under governors and presidents of both parties.” |
| A majority (55 percent) of Virginia voters disapprove of the job Trump is doing, while 42 percent approve. Those ratings are on par with what he earned in a Wason Center poll in April but that’s up from October, when 61 percent disapproved and 37 percent approved. | A majority (55 percent) of Virginia voters disapprove of the job Trump is doing, while 42 percent approve. Those ratings are on par with what he earned in a Wason Center poll in April but that’s up from October, when 61 percent disapproved and 37 percent approved. |
| Northam’s rating — 52 percent approve, 36 percent disapprove — is up from April, when the scandal over the yearbook photo was still fresh. A Wason survey that month found 40 percent approved of his performance. | |
| Northam initially apologized for the photo, which showed one person in blackface and another in a Klan hood. The next day, he said he was not in the photo but acknowledged putting shoe polish on his cheeks to imitate Michael Jackson in a dance contest in 1984. | Northam initially apologized for the photo, which showed one person in blackface and another in a Klan hood. The next day, he said he was not in the photo but acknowledged putting shoe polish on his cheeks to imitate Michael Jackson in a dance contest in 1984. |
| ‘This isn’t me’: Gov. Northam’s defiance caught advisers off guard | ‘This isn’t me’: Gov. Northam’s defiance caught advisers off guard |
| Northam seems to have recovered better than Fairfax and Herring, who were swept up in their own scandals days after Northam’s broke. | Northam seems to have recovered better than Fairfax and Herring, who were swept up in their own scandals days after Northam’s broke. |
| Herring called for Northam’s resignation but was forced to admit days later to wearing blackface for a rapper costume as a college freshman in 1980. Among voters, 36 percent approve of the job he is doing, while 27 percent disapprove. That’s down significantly from his rating (42 percent approve, 17 percent disapprove) a year ago but not significantly changed from April. | Herring called for Northam’s resignation but was forced to admit days later to wearing blackface for a rapper costume as a college freshman in 1980. Among voters, 36 percent approve of the job he is doing, while 27 percent disapprove. That’s down significantly from his rating (42 percent approve, 17 percent disapprove) a year ago but not significantly changed from April. |
| During that same week in February, two women accused Fairfax of sexually assaulting them in the early 2000s. One was a classmate at Duke University, and the other was a woman he had met at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Fairfax has insisted that both encounters were consensual. | |
| Voters were equally split (32 percent approve, 32 percent disapprove) on Fairfax. That is a much higher negative than a year ago (35 percent approved, 13 percent disapproved). His current rating is not significantly changed from April. | Voters were equally split (32 percent approve, 32 percent disapprove) on Fairfax. That is a much higher negative than a year ago (35 percent approved, 13 percent disapproved). His current rating is not significantly changed from April. |
| The poll was based on 901 interviews of registered Virginia voters, including 399 on landlines and 502 on cellphones, conducted Nov. 11 through Nov. 22. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. | The poll was based on 901 interviews of registered Virginia voters, including 399 on landlines and 502 on cellphones, conducted Nov. 11 through Nov. 22. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. |
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