Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 7 points in Virginia, according to a Roanoke College poll released Friday and conducted in the wake of FBI Director James B. Comey’s recent disclosure that there’s renewed interest in the bureau’s investigation into Mrs. Clinton’s emails.
Mrs. Clinton was at 45 percent and Mr. Trump was at 38 percent in the poll, while Libertarian Gary Johnson was at 5 percent, Green Party candidate Jill Stein was at 2 percent, and independent Evan McMullin was at 1 percent.
Mrs. Clinton led Mr. Trump by 9 points head-to-head, and she had led Mr. Trump by 9 points in Roanoke College poll from early October.
“Clinton’s lead is narrowing,” said Dr. Harry Wilson, director of the school’s Institute for Policy and Opinion Research. “If Donald Trump can rally the reluctant Republicans who still do not support him, then the race could be very close.”
Pollsters had been in the field when Mr. Comey made his Oct. 28 announcement, and Mrs. Clinton had held an 18-point, 50 percent to 32 percent, lead over Mr. Trump.
The institute decided to continue interviewing but treat subsequent days as a “new” poll because of the possible impact of the announcement. The new survey was conducted from Oct. 29-Nov. 1.
Respondents who favored another candidate were were asked if the FBI announcement influenced their choice, and 7 percent said it did.
Ten percent who were undecided also said the investigation influenced them to switch from Mrs. Clinton, though just 2 percent of Clinton supporters said they were now thinking about backing someone else.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine, a current U.S. senator and former governor of the state, is scheduled to campaign in Northern Virginia and Richmond on Monday. Mr. Kaine is also a former mayor of Richmond.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.