Robert Sarvis continues climb in polls
October 1, 2013
By Matthew Reece
On Sept. 30, Newsmax/Zogby Polling released a poll of the gubernatorial race in Virginia. The race now appears to be nearly tied, with Democrat Terry McAuliffe, a former chairman of the national Democratic Party, leading Republican Ken Cuccinelli, the current attorney general of Virginia, by a margin of 32.5 percent to 32.4 percent. 24.3 percent are undecided, while 10.8 percent support another candidate.
But when Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvis is named as a choice, he gets 12.7 percent of the vote, with McAuliffe at 32.2 percent and Cuccinelli at 27.4 percent.
Among 18-to-29-year-olds, the difference is far more pronounced. A two-candidate poll finds Cuccinelli at 46.0 percent and McAuliffe at 26.7 percent, while a three-candidate polling finds McAuliffe at 28.8 percent, Cuccinelli at 23.2 percent, and Sarvis at 21.6 percent. Like most Libertarian candidates, Sarvis performs exceptionally well among voters younger than 30.
This result, along with a Bearing Drift poll from last week showing Sarvis at 10.8 percent, should be sufficient to allow Sarvis to debate alongside Cuccinelli and McAuliffe. The threshold for being allowed into debates in the Virginia gubernatorial race is 10 percent, and Sarvis has been excluded from debates thus far.
If Sarvis’s support holds up or grows stronger, it will be one of the strongest results in a gubernatorial race inLibertarian Party history. The current record is held by Dick Randolph, who received 14.92% of the vote in the 1982 Alaska gubernatorial election.
The Libertarian Party is the only third party with a candidate running in the 2013 Virginia gubernatorial race. An independent candidate was running, but was unable to meet the ballot access requirements.
Great to hear. I think Sarvis could benefit from being in the next and iirc last debate. To a lot of casual voters he will be a new face and probably be able to stay out of the fray as the other two beat each other senseless. That could only help his poll numbers.
My one fear from this is that the election is close enough that Republicans can use it to argue Sarvis was a spoiler. Those sort of arguments still work on lots of people.
Not a chance in hell that Sarvis breaks 6%. Welcome to reality.
@SouthsideCentral
Why if it isn’t Bruce Hedrick! 😉
I hope that Robert Sarvis gets over 10% of the vote. Great effort Virginia Libertarians!
I believe if Mr. Sarvis does poll 10% or more the LP becomes ballot qualified thru 2017.
Jed is correct. That would be excellent for us here in VA. But, 10% is an incredibly gigantic number for a statewide, minor party candidate.
Great article in today’s Washington Post on Sarvis.
That kinda publicity don’t come easy.
This campaign speaks well for the edge v. fringe approach. I wonder if Sarvis believes there is a cult of the omnipotent state?
It speaks well for the frustration of voters when both major party candidates suck. Third parties always uptick in these situations. It has noting to do with Mr. Capozzi’s bogeymen.
They should look at the actual polls with and without Sarvis. Either way McAuliffe is up…by about the same percentage.