If 5th District Congressman Tom Perriello was expecting a difficult re-election campaign, a new poll suggests just how tough it could be. An exclusive News7 SurveyUSA poll gives his Republican opponent Robert Hurt a lead of more than 20 percentage points.
In a telephone survey, 591 likely voters were asked who they would support if the election were held today. 58 percent said they would vote for Republican Robert Hurt, 35 percent said they supported Perriello, and four percent were behind Independent Jeffrey Clark.
The survey sample included more Republicans than Democrats, evidence SurveyUSA says of "an energized Republican base and an enthusiasm gap for Democrats." If the likely voter model included an equal number from each party, SurveyUSA says Hurt still wins by eleven percentage points.
In August of 2008, Perriello was behind by more than 30 points in a SurveyUSA poll , but went on to defeat Republican incumbent Virgil Goode by 727 votes.
Here's a look at the survey results:
Asked of 591 Likely Voters
Margin of Sampling Error for this question = ± 4.1%
|
58% |
Robert Hurt (R) |
|
35% |
Tom Perriello (D) |
|
4% |
Jeffrey Clark (I) |
|
3% |
Undecided |
CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE INTERACTIVE CROSSTABS
