Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam has a slight lead in next Tuesday's Virginia governor's race, but a recent private poll shows him performing more poorly with minorities than expected, The Washington Post reports.
The Northam campaign reportedly asked the pro-immigration group America's Voice not to release its findings. Northam spokesman David Turner told the post he generally does not like to see polls released that will give the opponent free data.
Turner also said minority voter support typically rises closer to the election and the campaign's internal polling shows Northam even with or surpassing Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe's support with black and Latino voters in 2013.
The news comes a day after a controversial ad aimed at luring minority voters hit the Internet. The ad, produced by the left-leaning Latino Victory Fund, shows a supposed supporter of Republican Ed Gillespie driving around a neighborhood in a pickup truck with a Confederate flag waving from the bed.
The man chases two Hispanic children, as well as a black child and a young Muslim girl in a headscarf.
Gillespie and other Republicans slammed the ad, but Northam defended it, saying the voices of those who feel threatened by Gillespie and his support of President Donald Trump need to be heard.
The group pulled the ad and the tweet promoting it on Tuesday following the deadly terrorist in New York in which a rented truck was used to mow down pedestrians and bicyclists. At least eight were killed.
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