Trump Cutting Losses in |Virginia, Shutters Office

(CN) - Donald Trump has told staffers he's pulling out of the battleground state Virginia in an effort to focus campaign resources on states that now look more competitive for him.

The move has been confirmed by members of campaign and GOP operatives in Virginia.

By all accounts, the decision was handed down by the Trump campaign's headquarters in New York Wednesday evening and announced in a conference call.

Two days earlier, the campaign fired Corey Stewart, the Virginia state chairman at Donald Trump for President, for organizing a demonstration outside the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., after scores of GOP lawmakers abandoned their support of Trump after the revelation of lewd comments he made about women in 2005.

Stewart, managing member at Stewart PLLC and chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, took to Facebook to argue Virginia is still winnable and that quitting the state would be nothing short of a betrayal of Trump's supporters there.

"Thousands of dedicated volunteers have spent millions of hours knocking on doors, making phone calls and raising money for Mr. Trump over the past 15 months," Stewart pleaded. "Virginia is winnable. An aggressive ad campaign in combination with the efforts of these volunteers -will produce results. Pulling out now would be a betrayal to these volunteers."

The campaign's decision, just a month before election day, effectively concedes the state and its 13 electoral votes to Democrat Hillary Clinton and Sen. Tim Kaine, a former Virginia governor.

The latest Roanoke College poll shows Clinton with a 9-point advantage over Trump, with the former secretary of state leading him 45 percent to 36 percent.

If Clinton does win in Virginia, she'll accomplish something her husband, former President Bill Clinton. never could. He lost the state twice.

With Virginia in his rear-view mirror, Trump appears to be banking his presidential hopes on just four battleground states: Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

But Trump is behind in all four, according to the most recent polls.

A Bloomberg poll released Thursday shows Clinton up by 9 points over Trump in Pennsylvania, where 48 percent of respondents said they prefer the Democrat, compared with 39 percent who said they support Trump, 6 percent who are backing Libertarian Gary Johnson, and 4 percent who are for the Green Party's Jill Stein.

Meanwhile, a Suffolk University poll has Clinton up by 2 points in North Carolina, leading Trump 45 percent to 43 percent.

In Florida, an Opinion Savvy poll released Wednesday has Clinton up by 3 points, leading Trump 47 percent to 44 percent, with Johnson getting 5 percent and Stein, 2 percent.

The latest CBS News/YouGov poll, released Sunday, had Clinton up by 4 points in Ohio, where she leads Trump 46 percent to 42 percent, with Johnson getting 5 percent and Stein 2 percent.

If there's a bright spot for Trump in Thursday's polls, it is the latest national survey from Rasmussen Report, which found that Sunday night's debate has bumped the Republican into the lead.

Rasmussen's latest phone and online survey finds Trump with 43 percent support among likely voters, compared to Clinton's 41 percent.

The poll was conducted before several women came forward Wednesday and accused Trump of groping them in separate incidents.

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