Geoff Garin, pollster for Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe, said Wednesday that GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli’s position on Obamacare may have cost him the election.
“We tested Cuccinelli’s brag that he was the first attorney general to sue to stop Obamacare,” Garin said. “That actually made more voters less likely to support him than more.”
Garin said that even for voters who disapprove of the health care law, Cuccinelli’s stance was too extreme.
“A majority disapproved of the Affordable Care Act, but in Virginia, as elsewhere, we found that a lot of these voters want to fix the law,” Garin told the Washington Post. “‘Cuccinellis’ position on Obamacare actually supported what we were saying about him, which is that he was extreme and supported a national Tea Party agenda.”
Garin also said McAuliffe’s somewhat narrow win over Cuccinelli was expected by his campaign team.
“With the exception of a brief spike during the government shutdown, Terry’s lead was never less than two points, and never greater than four,” Garin said. “It was a stable race.”
