Washington Post Virginia Poll, October 2007

This poll, fielded October 4-8, 2007, is a part of continuing series of monthly
polls that solicit public opinion on various political and social issues.
This poll focused on Virginia and the state elections.
Virginia residents were asked what was the biggest issue facing Virginia at that
time, whether they thought the state of Virginia was moving in the right
direction, and to rate the condition of Virginia's economy.
Several questions asked whether respondents approved of the way the Virginia state
legislature was handling its job, and for opinions of Governor Tim Kaine,
Senator James Webb, Senator John Warner, the Republicans and Democrats in the
state legislature, Junior Senator Mark Warner, Former Governor Jim Gilmore, and
Congressman Tom Davis.
Respondents were asked how closely they had been following the races
for general assembly and state senate in Virginia, how likely they would be to vote in
the Virginia state elections and for whom they would vote if the 2008 United States senate
race were being held that day, which political party they would like to see in control
of the state legislature, and which issues would be most important in their vote for the
Virginia state legislature.
A series of questions asked respondents about immigration, including how many recent
immigrants lived in the respondents' area at the time, how much contact they had with
recent immigrants, their opinions of immigrants and how they
affect the country, whether illegal immigration was a problem in their area, and how
federal, state, and local governments should handle illegal immigration issues.
Information was also collected on how closely respondents were following the
2008 presidential race, how likely they were to vote in the 2008 presidential
primaries in their state, for whom respondents would vote if the Democratic
and Republican primaries and presidential election were being held that day,
and for their opinions on the 2008 potential presidential candidates.
Respondents were asked which political party they trusted more to handle issues such as taxes and the war in Iraq, which political party they preferred the next president to belong to, as well as whether they approved of the way George W. Bush was handling the presidency.
Additional topics included the Iraq War, traffic congestion in their area of the state, Virginia's transportation
funding plan, and Virginia's law on abusive driver fees. Demographic information includes sex, age, race, education level, household income, religious preference, frequency of religious
attendance, whether respondents considered themselves to be a born-again
Christian, whether anyone in the household was a military veteran, marital
status, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural), whether respondents were born in the United States, how many years they had lived in the state of Virginia, voter registration
status and participation history, political party affiliation, political
philosophy, and the presence of children under the age of 18 in the household.