RICHMOND (CN) - A new statewide poll shows President Donald Trump and his policies are deeply unpopular in Virginia, but that hasn’t stopped Republicans from entering the state's 2018 Senate primary contest in hopes of taking on the popular Democratic incumbent, Tim Kaine.
Among those who'll be on the ballot June 12 is Corey Stewart, a current member of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, and former official on Trump 2016 campaign in Virginia.
But he's best known for his candidacy in last year's Republican primary for governor. Stewart, a staunch conservative, lost that race by a only a few thousand votes, and he's considered to have the best name recognition of any of the GOP hopefuls.
“The president’s tax cut is a game changer,” said Stewart when asked how he plans to overcome the potential anti-Trump backlash in 2018.
The candidate professed to be unconcerned, saying he would “roll out the red carpet” for Trump if the President offered to help his campaign.
In the two-part poll released this week by Judy Ford Wason Center for Public Policy, Trump’s approval rating sits at 37 percent with 52 percent of Virginia voters “strongly” disapproving of the job he’s doing.
Voters across the Commonwealth are starkly divided on his policy decisions as well: 71 percent support the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act to give citizenship to individuals who were brought into the United States illegally as children, and 54 percent oppose his plan to open the mid-Atlantic to offshore drilling.
These numbers, similar to those released by another polling group before the 2017 gubernatorial election, suggest an uphill battle for Republicans.
Last year, Virginia saw an historic increase in the number of Democrats voted into the state legislature. This year, with all 11 congressional seats up for grabs, even more is on the line and the news isn’t much better with this week’s poll putting four formerly-solid red districts in play for Democrats.
“As voters feel the benefit of the tax cut, Trump’s polling numbers will improve,” Stewart said. “As the economy begins to soar, the president’s brand, the conservative brand, will improve as well.”
That said, Stewart's penchant for making headlines -- he recently stood on the steps of the Capitol and called GOP members of the state house “flaccid” for being willing to compromise on a Medicaid proposal -- haven’t won him much support from establishment Republicans.
Instead they appear to be rallying around state Delegate Nick Freitas. An Iraq war Veteran, Freitas raised his national profile just a few days after the Wason Center poll concluded.
In a rousing House floor speech he suggested arming some teachers to counter school shooters and blamed the breakdown of the family and abortions as the reason school shootings happen in the first place.