Poll: Dems in close race for Virginia governor nomination

Virginia Democrats Tom Perriello and Ralph Northam are neck-and-neck in their party’s gubernatorial primary, according to a new poll.

Two points separate the pair in The Washington Post-Schar School survey released Thursday.

Forty percent of likely Democratic voters favor Perriello, a former House representative.

{mosads}Thirty-eight percent prefer Northam, Virginia’s lieutenant governor, while 1 percent supports another candidate.

Northam has received the endorsement of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), who is leaving office due to term limits.

Perriello has landed the support of prominent progressives such as Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Ed Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman who ran for Senate in 2014, is widely considered the GOP gubernatorial primary’s frontrunner.

Corey Stewart, former co-chairman of President Trump’s Virginia campaign, is another Republican contender, as is state Sen. Frank Wagner.

The Democratic and Republican gubernatorial nominees will ultimately meet in a general election on Nov. 7.

Pollsters conducted cell and landline telephone interviews of 351 likely voters in Virginia’s Democratic primary for governor from May 9-14. Their findings have a 6 percent margin of error.