- The Washington Times - Wednesday, November 1, 2017

A week out from Election Day, Democrat Ralph Northam’s lead over Republican Ed Gillespie is shrinking in the Virginia governor’s race.

A Washington Post-Schar School survey found that Mr. Northam, the state’s lieutenant governor, has a 49 to 44 percent lead over Mr. Gillespie, a former adviser to President George W. Bush, among likely voters.

Libertarian Cliff Hyra is at 4 percent.

Mr. Northam led the same poll earlier this month by 13 points.

The Democrat leads among self-identified independents and moderate voters.

Mr. Northam is leading by double-digits in the suburbs of Washington and Tidewater region. The candidates are running neck-and-neck in the Richmond area, and the Northern Virginia exurbs, which includes Loudoun County and Prince William County.

Mr. Gillespie is up big in southwest Virginia.

Mr. Trump’s shadow, meanwhile, is hovering over the race.

More than half of likely voters said their views of President Trump played an important role in their decision-making, and close to six in 10 respondents said they disapproved of Mr. Trump’s job performance.

The race has turned nasty in recent weeks, with Mr. Gillespie and his allies accusing Mr. Northam of being soft on illegal immigration, crime and MS-13. Mr. Northam and his allies have countered by tying Mr. Gillespie to white nationalists and anti-immigrant groups.

There are signs that both lines of attack have worked: 48 percent say Mr. Northam would do a better job of handling race relations while an equal 48 percent say they trust Mr. Gillespie more on crime and public safety.

About half of those polled said Mr. Gillespie has run a mainly negative campaign, while 37 percent said the same about Mr. Northam.

The poll carried a four-point margin of sampling error.

• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.

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