Former presidential adviser Ed Gillespie is an early favorite to become Virginia’s next Republican nominee for governor, but most Virginians haven’t yet decided which of the four GOP contenders they will support, according to a University of Mary Washington poll this month.
Gillespie, an adviser to former President George W. Bush, was favored by 19 percent of the 1,006 Virginians polled from Sept. 6–12.
State Sen. Frank Wagner, a Republican who represents the Virginia Beach area, received 11 percent of the support; U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman, R-1st District, was favored by 8 percent of poll respondents; and 6 percent preferred Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart, who also chairs Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign in Virginia.
The UMW poll showed that 40 percent of Virginians don’t know which of the four GOP candidates they will back. Gillespie is perhaps the best known of the GOP contenders because he ran for U.S. Senate in 2014, narrowly losing to Mark Warner.
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