Bloomberg: “Both Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin are imploring Virginians to cast ballots early in their hotly contested gubernatorial contest, which has drawn national attention. Signs point to Democrats holding a lead in early votes cast. McAuliffe is a former Virginia governor and former chair of the DNC. Youngkin, a former co-chief executive officer of the Carlyle Group Inc., is also encouraging supporters to vote early, even though Republicans are more apt to wait until Election Day to vote. As of Tuesday morning, 724,965 ballots have been cast in the state, more than three times the number of early votes cast in the 2017 gubernatorial election, with heavily Democratic areas like Richmond and Charlottesville leading the way.”
“Virginia does not have party registration, so it’s not known exactly how the early votes are breaking down. While the majority of the early votes are cast in Democratic enclaves of the commonwealth, it’s unclear how many of those might be crossover votes. Yet a recent Emerson College poll showed 53% of respondents who said they had already voted supported McAuliffe, while 46% backed Youngkin. A CBS News poll showed an even wider split, with 61% of respondents who said they had already voted backing McAuliffe, and 37% supporting Youngkin.”