About a third of Republicans in Virginia won't vote for Donald Trump this fall if he is the party's presidential nominee, opting instead to vote for a third-party candidate or potentially Hillary Clinton if she is the Democrat nominee, a new poll states.
According to the
Christopher Newport University survey, some of the voters may even decide to stay home on election day.
The results show that 67 percent of Republican primary voters in the Old Dominion State would support Trump. The remaining voters may decide to vote for the Democrat in the race — which will be either Clinton or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
In a head-to-head matchup, Clinton leads Trump, 44 percent to 35 percent. The divide between genders is also deep, as women prefer Clinton over Trump by 23 points while men prefer Trump over Clinton 6 points.
Young voters would side with Clinton over Trump by a 22 percent margin.
"We found a real loyalty gap," said Dr. Quentin Kidd, director of the Wason Center at Christopher Newport University. "If Donald Trump turns out to be the Republican nominee, it's clear that a very significant proportion of Republican voters will either defect or stay home. But it looks like most Democrats — even those who backed Bernie Sanders in the March primary — would support Clinton."
President Barack Obama won Virginia in the 2008 and 2012 elections. A handful of counties and cities in highly populous Northern Virginia swung in his direction and allowed him to beat Arizona Sen. John McCain (2008) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (2012).
From 1952-2004, Virginia voters sided with the Republican presidential candidate in every election except in 1964.
Another poll recently found that 70 percent of Americans hold a negative view of Trump.
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