A new poll from Quinnipiac University released Thursday shows President Barack Obama holding a 5-point lead over presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney in Virginia.
The poll shows the president earning the support of 47-percent of registered voters in the Commonwealth, while Romney trails with 42-percent. Romney’s support is unchanged since Quinnipiac’s previous poll of Virginia in March, while Obama is slightly down from the 50-percent level of support he enjoyed in that poll. The latest survey, which was conducted May 30-June 4, also shows that the addition of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell to the GOP ticket does not help Romney cut into Obama’s 5-point edge. Obama is buoyed by strong support from Virginia’s women voters, who prefer the president over Romney in Thursday’s poll, 51-percent to 35-percent.
Obama won Virginia over Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in 2008, becoming the first Democrat to carry Old Dominion in a presidential election since 1964. The TPM Poll Average currently shows Obama narrowly edging Romney there.