Donald Trump is rebounding slightly among Virginia voters, but is still trailing Hillary Clinton by 12 points in the commonwealth, according to a new poll from the Wason Center for Public Policy.
The poll surveyed 834 likely Virginia voters between Oct. 16 and Oct. 19, before the third presidential debate. It had a margin of error of +/- 3.9 percentage points.
The poll showed Clinton leading 45 percent to Trump's 33, a 12-point difference.
"While Trump appears to have recovered a little of the support he lost after the 'Access Hollywood' tape, his reach continues to be no higher than the mid-30s," said Dr. Quentin Kidd, director of the Wason Center, in a press release.
According to the poll, Clinton has continued to gain voters in Northern Virginia, leading 57 percent to Trump's 21 there. For the first time in the campaign, Trump has now surpassed 50 percent of likely voters in rural and mountainous south and southwest Virginia, where he leads Clinton 51-30. The Wason Center identities that area as his only regional stronghold.
"Clinton's continued rise in Northern Virginia tells the larger story of political change in Virginia," said Dr. Rachel Bitecofer, assistant director of the Wason Center. "Bluer and bluer voters in suburban Washington, and their like in Richmond and Hampton Roads, far outweigh rural voters' preference for Trump."
The Wason Center for Public Policy is located at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. The center's full report on the poll is available online here.
