Heciel Nieves Bonilla, Assistant News Editor
VCU released a new Commonwealth Poll on Tuesday showing Democrats leading by narrower margins in the races for governor and lieutenant governor — and Republican Jason Miyares overtaking Democrat Jay Jones in the attorney general race.
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger is leading her Republican opponent and incumbent Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears by five points, seven points smaller of a margin than VCU’s July’s poll.
Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Ghazala Hashmi continues to lead her Republican opponent John Reid — but now only by a one-point margin.
Jones faced the steepest drop of any candidate in the poll, falling five points from July. He now sits at three points behind Miyares.
Jones, a former delegate, has been hit with multiple scandals since the beginning of October, most recently the uncovering of his texts from 2022 in which he mused hypothetically killing the then-House of Delegates Speaker Todd Gilbert.
The governor and attorney general debates occurred earlier in October, and candidates are now doing their final stretch of campaigning ahead of the Nov. 4 election.
President Donald Trump has now endorsed “the Republican candidate” for governor. He also endorsed Miyares after Jones’ scandal came out.
Spanberger has recruited national figures including Barack Obama, Pete Buttigieg and Bill Nye for her final stretch of events.
Visit commonwealthtimes.org/category/news/election-2025 for more information on the candidates and their positions.
Virginians can participate in early voting until Nov. 1. Election day is on Nov. 4. Voting information, locations and hours are available at elections.virginia.gov.