Hillary Clinton Lead Over Donald Trump Shrinks in Virginia: Poll

FREDERICKSBURG, VA — Exactly a month ago, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton had a 14-point lead over GOP rival Donald Trump in a poll of registered Virginia voters, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

At the time, it seemed Virginia's newfound reputation as a tossup state had gone from Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" to Neil Diamond's "Blue Destiny."

The Clinton campaign, with popular former Virginia Gov. Kaine on the ticket, began to pin-point its focus on other so-called tossup states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida.

That strategy may have been short sighted, according to noted University Mary Washington political professor Stephen Farnsworth, whose school released a new poll Thursday showing, among likely voters, Clinton with only a 3-point lead over her bombastic opponent.

"Mary Washington’s latest survey demonstrates that Virginia remains one of the nation’s most purple states," Farnsworth said. "This survey demonstrates that the Trump campaign is wise to focus its resources on Virginia, and that the Clinton campaign is making a mistake by directing its attention elsewhere."

The poll didn't break down the race in terms of geographic areas, and because it included likely voters as opposed to just registered voters, it's not all that surprising it was different from the aforementioned Post-ABC poll.

But when the new poll did narrow things down to registered voters, Clinton had just a 5-point lead over Trump, with 10 percent opting for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson. Among all potential voters surveyed, Clinton had a 6-point lead.

Nationally, an aggregate poll of other polls by Real Clear Politics shows Clinton with a 2-point lead over Trump.

Trump has continued to make periodic appearances in Virginia while Clinton largely has relied on surrogates.

Farnsworth believes the undecided potential voters will be key in November.

"The large number of voters not prepared to commit to either of the two major party nominees," he said, "demonstrates that the Democratic and Republican campaigns still have a lot of persuading to do in Virginia this fall."

Image via University of Mary Washington