Despite some very embarrassing revelations that the campaign of Rep. Scott Taylor, R-Va., tried to help an independent candidate gain ballot access and thus split his opposition, the freshman lawmaker and onetime U.S. Navy SEAL still leads Democrat Elaine Luria in poll results completed this weekend.
According to a Christopher Newport University (CNU) Wason Center poll of likely voters, Taylor leads Luria by 50 to 43 percent districtwide. The poll showed 5 percent undecided and the margin of error was +/-4.0.
State and national Democrats had high hopes of capturing the 2nd with retired U.S. Navy Commander and first-time candidate Luria. However, Taylor, himself a decorated SEAL who saw action in Iraq, leads among military families in the CNU poll by a whopping 22 percentage points.
Earlier this year, Taylor experienced a political “black eye” following revelations that several on his campaign staff tried to help independent Shaun Brown get on the fall ballot and thus split off votes from Luria. Broun was disqualified from the ballot when several of the signatures on the petitions collected for her were found to be fraudulent and a special prosecutor is now investigating the scandal.
Although 72 percent of the voters in the 2nd are aware of the vote-siphoning scheme, CNU found, 68 percent of them said it would not affect their vote.
“Scott should win,” former Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., a past chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, told Newsmax. “He fits the district as a Navy Seal, is socially moderate and economically conservative and strong on national defense.”
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.