A new Global Strategy group poll released by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Commitee (DCCC) shows Democrat U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello trailing state Sen. Robert Hurt 44 percent to 42 percent in Virginia’s 5th Congressional District race.
Independent Jeffrey Clark garnered 6 percent in the poll, which surveyed 400 likely voters from Aug. 24-26 and has a 4.9 percent margin of error.
“These results confirm what every reputable pollster has shown — this race is neck and neck,” said Jesse Ferguson, Southern Regional Press Secretary at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The poll is in stark contrast to a recent SurveyUSA poll conducted for WDBJ-TV Roanoke that showed Hurt with a 61-35 lead. Another poll from about a month ago commissioned by the conservative American Action Forum showed Hurt with a slimmer six-point advantage.
The timing of the poll’s release is noteworthy; the New York Times over the weekend cited Perriello’s race as one that Democrats acknowledged “could quickly move out of reach.”
U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Montgomery County and chairman of the DCCC, responded by saying that the Times story “erroneously suggests that the DCCC has decided not to allocate resources to specific campaigns. That simply is not the case.”
“The members of Congress referenced in the article are all running strong campaigns focused on their solid records and drawing sharp distinctions between themselves and their opponents on the key issues at stake in this election,” Van Hollen said. “The DCCC is heavily invested in these campaigns.”
“Every campaign cycle the DCCC and other campaign committees face difficult resource allocation decisions and this election cycle is no different,” he added.
