Slightly more than half of White Virginians voted for President Trump, according to early exit polls. In 2016, 59 percent of White Virginia voters supported Trump, while 35 percent supported Hillary Clinton. Former vice president Joe Biden appears to be doing slightly better than Clinton among White voters in Virginia, particularly among Whites with less than a college education, a group that has been trending Republican nationally but that Biden has attempted to reach with a focus on his working-class roots.
But he also gained ground among college-educated Whites, as early exit polls suggested he would win among White, college-educated women while coming close to pulling even with Trump among White college-educated men.
Biden garnered roughly 9 in 10 Black voters, which is about on par with the 88 percent of Black Virginians who supported Clinton in 2016. About 6 in 10 Hispanic voters said they supported Biden; Clinton won 65 percent support among Virginia’s Hispanic voters in 2016.
Trump also appeared to have lost some ground in the small cities and rural areas of Virginia that have been his traditional strongholds nationally. Though he still performed better here than in Virginia’s cities, early exit polls suggested that Biden was holding his own here.
The Post is publishing preliminary results from national and state exit polls that allow readers to explore demographic trends in the 2020 vote. These surveys randomly sample voters in three ways: in-person, as they exited voting places on or before Election Day, and by telephone, through a survey of more than 25,000 early voters, to help account for the huge increase of votes cast early.
Containing the coronavirus now, even if it hurts the economy54% of voters
20%
79%
Rebuilding the economy now, even if it hurts efforts to contain the coronavirus41%
81%
18%
Senate exit poll
In the Virginia U.S. Senate race, the incumbent, Mark Warner, a Democrat, defeated Daniel Gade, a Republican. Warner has represented Virginia in the Senate since 2009.
Who won each group in Virginia
Groups that candidates won by six or more percentage points
Containing the coronavirus now, even if it hurts the economy54% of voters
80%
20%
Rebuilding the economy now, even if it hurts efforts to contain the coronavirus41%
22%
77%
Methodology
Preliminary national and state exit poll results from interviews of randomly selected voters as they exited voting places across the country on Nov. 3, as well as from voters exiting early voting locations. Early voters were also reached through a telephone survey. The polls were conducted by Edison Research for the National Election Pool, The Washington Post and other media organizations. Results are weighted to match vote tallies by region and to correct for differential participation by subgroup.
Joe Biden
Donald Trump