Poll: Hurt has six-point edge over Perriello

Republican nominee Robert Hurt has a six-point lead over Democratic incumbent Tom Perriello in a new poll of voters in the Fifth District congressional race.

The Roanoke College poll gives Hurt a 46 percent-40 percent lead over Perriello. Independent Jeffrey Clark polls 1 percent of the vote, with 13 percent undecided.

The poll includes interviews conducted with 567 likely voters in the Fifth District between Oct. 5-14. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4.1 percent.

A look inside the numbers suggests little room for Perriello to make up the gap. Undecideds do lean to Perriello, but only by a 19 percent-16 percent margin. Eighty percent of the undecideds said they are very likely to vote, and trend toward being moderate or conservative in their outlook.

“These results suggest that it will be very difficult for Rep. Perriello to retain his seat,” said Dr. Harry Wilson, the director of the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research at Roanoke College. “Perriello has to hope for a very large turnout among the core Democratic voters as well as the so-called ‘Obama voters.’ That said, the race is certainly not yet over.”

More information, methodology, the questionnaire and all frequencies are available at http://roanoke.edu/News_and_Events/Campus_News/2010_Roanoke_College_Poll.htm.
 
 

Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
Story courtesy WhenVirginiaWasBlue.com.

Money race tightens in Fifth

Republican challenger Robert Hurt actually slightly outpaced Democratic incumbent Tom Perriello in the money race in the third quarter, raising $900,000 to the $810,000 raised by the congressman, though both seem well-positioned for the final weeks of the race in terms of their access to cash.

“While Robert Hurt continues to take thousands from K Street lobbyists and companies that outsource American jobs, Tom Perriello has received a huge outpouring of support from thousands of working families in Virginia. Powerful special interests like the health insurance companies and oil billionaires are working desperately to get Robert Hurt in Congress because they know he will be a rubberstamp for their agenda. Our grassroots funding base is helping us fight back,” Perriello campaign spokeswoman Jessica Barba said.

Not to be outdone on the statement front was Hurt campaign manager Sean Harrison.

“Our campaign has seen a tremendous outpouring of support from 5th District voters,” Harrison said. “Central and Southside Virginians continue to line up behind Robert’s positive message of creating jobs by lowering taxes, reining in government spending, and reducing the size and scope of the federal government. These contributions will help us combat the hundreds of thousands of dollars Congressman Perriello is receiving from national liberal groups like George Soros’ MoveOn.org and big labor bosses as we work to put an end to the job-killing, big spending Pelosi-Perriello agenda.”

Story courtesy WhenVirginiaWasBlue.com.