Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by 7 points in Virginia, according to a survey released Monday that showed Mrs. Clinton gain among independents and younger voters in the wake of last week’s presidential debate.
Mrs. Clinton led Mr. Trump by 7 points, 42 percent to 35 percent, according to the poll released Monday by the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University.
“Hillary Clinton’s debate performance has improved her position in Virginia slightly,” said Dr. Quentin Kidd, director of the Wason Center. “Most significant is perhaps her improved support among younger voters, a critical part of the Obama coalition.”
Among those between the ages of 18 and 34, Mrs. Clinton increased her support to 42 percent, from 34 percent in a Wason Center survey released last week.
And Mrs. Clinton led Mr. Trump by 6 points among independents after trailing Mr. Trump by 11 points last week.
Democrats have been trying to hammer home the message, particularly to young people, that voting for a third-party candidate or not voting at all is essentially voting for Mr. Trump.
Overall, Mrs. Clinton had led Mr. Trump by 6 points, 39 percent to 33 percent, in the Wason Center survey released last Monday.
Libertarian Gary Johnson was at 12 percent in the new survey — down from 15 percent a week ago. And Green Party candidate Jill Stein was at 1 percent — down from 3 percent in the last survey.
Independent conservative candidate Evan McMullin was at 2 percent after being at 3 percent in the poll released last week.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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