Virginia Republican voters don’t know who they want to run for governor next year, and voters in general are undecided on who should win in the fall race.
This from a new poll of the Old Dominion from Public Policy Polling.
Democrats are at least settled on a candidate, with Attorney General Mark Herring’s move last summer to step aside in favor of Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam.
Northam isn’t particularly well-known, registering at 34 percent name recognition in the PPP survey.
Republican Ed Gillespie is the best-known candidate, at 42 percent, on the heels of his near-upset of U.S. Sen. Mark Warner in 2014.
Two other potential GOP candidates aren’t nearly as well-known with voters: Corey Stewart at 25 percent, and Rob Wittman at 25 percent.
Gillespie has the early lead in that three-way race among Republican voters, at 29 percent, to 16 percent for Wittman and 13 percent for Stewart.
The three hypothetical November 2017 matchups are dead heats: Gillespie leads Northam 37-36, Wittman and Northam are tied at 34, and Northam has a 34-32 lead on Stewart.
More from the poll: click here.