Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) Polls? Those are irrelevant now to the two Republican candidates in Virginia’s gubernatorial primary that are trailing in them.
“The last five elections I’ve seen, based on the polls, I don’t want to be ahead in the polls,” State Senator Frank Wagner told WMAL. “All five last elections, all five leaders in the polls all had one thing in common – they’re all losers.”
Wagner, along with Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart have been looking up at former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie in those polls for some time now, as Gillespie has yet to relinquish the lead.
“We haven’t had a Republican primary in Virginia in 12 years,” Stewart told WMAL. “Nobody knows what the voting universe is, nobody knows who’s coming out to vote, so none of the polls is accurate.”
This will be the first gubernatorial election since 2005 where Republicans will hold a primary instead of a convention, a decision made by the state Republican party made last summer.
Gillespie is returning to the statewide stage following a tight loss to Mark Warner in 2014’s Senate race, one where many pundits said he outperformed expectations. Stewart, however, believes Gillespie blew his chance.
“We ran, and won, statewide elections in Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland, and we lost in Virginia with Ed Gillespie as our candidate,” Stewart said. “I, on the other hand, have continued to win in a district with a half million people, that’s 54% minority, that’s a 60-40 Democratic district.”
Wagner cited his formative years as an advantage over Gillespie and Stewart.
“Ed Gillespie made a fortune lobbying, and I guess that’s a business up in DC, trading government influence. Corey’s a lawyer,” Stewart said. “But I started a ship repair company by myself, and built it up to 100 people.”
The Democratic side is seeing a tighter race between Lt. Governor Ralph Northam and former Congressman Tom Perriello. Polls are open Tuesday from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm.
Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: Steve Helber/AP)
