As summer turns to fall and campaign season kicks into high gear, Republican Corey Stewart, an unapologetic supporter of President Trump, is closing the gap on Democrat Senator Tim Kaine in Virginia’s midterm race for US Senate. Despite early advantages in name recognition and claims of a massive 25 point lead in the polls, Senator Kaine’s underwater approval rating of only 45% has come back to haunt him. Recent polling conducted by Poolhouse and Cyngal found the race has narrowed to a 5 point margin, with first-term incumbent Kaine failing to surpass 50% support. The poll, which surveyed 1,199 likely voters from around the Commonwealth, found Kaine clinging on to a small lead of 50.20% to Stewart’s 45.70%, with 4.10% remaining undecided. When respondents were presented with a generic ballot, the numbers grew even closer as Democrats held on to a tiny lead of 47.90% to Republicans’ 47.30% well within the margin of error, squashing claims of an imminent ‘blue wave’ at the polls.
For Stewart’s supporters, news of Kaine’s dwindling lead is huge. In Virginia, where Republicans haven’t won a statewide election since 2009, and Hillary Clinton defeated President Trump by a margin of 5 points in 2016, conservatives are eager to take back the reigns of a once reliably red delegation to Washington. In an email sent after the poll’s release, Stewart and his campaign shared the excitement of their supporters. ‘This survey is even better than our own internal polling,’ said Stewart. ‘And although we’re still behind we know Virginians are looking for a change from Tim Kaine, because he’s too liberal, too weak and has done nothing as Senator.’
Stewart’s assertions that Kaine is ‘too liberal’ and ‘too weak’ to represent Virginia in the United States Senate are nothing new. Since the day he announced his run for office, Stewart has promised a far stronger voice in Washington than that of Tim Kaine, and Virginians are beginning to take notice. During his time in Washington, Kaine has toed the party line with a level of devotion rarely seen in years past. In recent weeks, Kaine has joined paid left-wing protesters and the most radical members of his party in his attempts to obstruct the appointment of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. In a statement released on his decision to vote ‘no’ on confirming Kavanaugh next week, Kaine affirmed his loyalty to the Clinton Family’s political machine, citing Kavanaugh’s time spent working with Ken Starr investigating the Whitewater Scandal, the death of Vince Foster,’ and later President Bill Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, as well as his support for the 2nd Amendment and border security as reasons why he would rather see the court playing a man down, than functioning at full capacity.
As Kaine has sat in Washington playing ‘resistance,’ Stewart has barnstormed through Virginia connecting with voters and building a loyal base of support from Lee County to Alexandria, and Winchester to Virginia Beach. Despite receiving virtually zero support from national Republicans and the never Trump establishment in Richmond, Stewart’s stock has continued to rise as he campaigns the old fashioned way, alongside thousands of volunteers and supporters in every corner of the Commonwealth. While the so called ‘experts’ believe it impossible to campaign without Kaine’s wealthy donors and television ads, Stewart has continued to prove doubters wrong; building a coalition of grassroots conservatives and independent voters who have had enough of the status quo. Politics are changing. Old rules are no longer in place and the power of a small political elite in Washington is quickly evaporating. In Virginia, the race for Senate has taken on a life of its own, as Hillary Clinton’s running mate and the former Chairman of President Trump’s Virginia campaign team prepare to go head to head on November 6th. If Corey Stewart’s upward trend continues, he will be poised to ‘win bigly’ in November, and signal to the rest of the United States that the Trump revolution is alive and well in the Old Dominion.