CLICK HERE for the FINAL TRS VIRGINIA GOP Gubernatorial Poll!

Plus a short letter of thanks as we head into the Virginia general election.

News this morning about a PPP poll showing State Senator Amanda Chase (I-Chesterfield) with a narrow lead over former Carlyle Group CEO Glenn Youngkin among primary voters. Which should not shock a soul for two reasons: (1) name ID and (2) it’s PPP polling primary voters — which is every Tom, Dick and Harry in Virginia that thinks they might be a Republican.

Chase leads this pack at 22% — far less than previous statewide polls — with Youngkin hot on her heels at 21%. Youngkin has been on a 10-day blitz with television ads and some heavy hitting endorsements.

Of course, there’s only one outfit polling Virginia convention delegates. And there’s only one vote that matters: YOURS.

The Republican Standard is sending this survey to 51,000 Virginia Republicans and 40,000 TRS readers.

That means that not only are we getting 80% of the convention delegate pool but we are also wrapping in our TRS readership collected over the years.

How scientific is the poll? The more folks who vote, the greater the accuracy.

So whatever these results are will either be the closest anyone else is going to get to an actual result. Which means your vote is going to help a lot of other people see the landscape for your candidate as it is.

This poll will CLOSE tonight at midnight, with results and analysis published Friday.

One very quick caveat.

There have been a great number of questions regarding whether or not TRS will endorse in this race. The answer is a simple and quick no — not just because there are enough publications in Virginia tearing down Republicans, but because come May 9th we are going to have a common opposition.

From our mission statement:

We intend to write honestly and with perspective.  Just as there is a distinction between the profession of journalism and the rank amateurism of a mere reporter, so too will there be a distinction between columnists in a digital age and mere bloggers.

We should not be afraid of stating the obvious.  Our public square has a number of publications committed to attacking conservatives, both outside and within.

This publication will refrain entirely from such intramural contests.

Our goal is simple: To cut through the fog of the information warfare that passes for news in today’s media and offer a clear, sharp, and trustworthy voice for the center-right in Virginia at every level of government.

So there it is, without bias or prejudice towards any of our fine candidates who have all run tough (and hopefully honorable) campaigns.

Last bit? Thank you.

You have put up with slicks, advertisements, endorsements, television and radio ads, positive campaigning, negative campaigning, attacks from the media, mocking from the left and all sorts of shenanigans.

Virginia Republicans are in a tough spot, no question. But with polling showing the generic ballot having slipped to a mere D+2 rather than the D+12 we faced in 2017? We are on the cusp of a George Allen ‘93 resurgency because of your resilience.

So thank you — and let’s do this.

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Shaun Kenney is the editor of The Republican Standard, former chairman of the Board of Supervisors for Fluvanna County, and a former executive director of the Republican Party of Virginia.