PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — An Emerson College/Nexstar Media survey of the 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election found that the majority of Virginians think the state is on the right track, but believe their economic situation is worse than it was four years ago. The survey was conducted Jan. 6-8, 2025 and polled 1,000 registered Virginia voters via online panels, landline and mobile phones. Forty-two percent of voters support Democratic former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, while 41% support Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. Four percent support someone else and 13% are undecided. Photo Courtesy: WAVY-TV “Ten months before the 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election, the race is tight overall but with clear demographic differences standing out,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling. “Support for Sears is found among male voters, who break for the lieutenant governor 52% to 37%, and White voters, who break for her 50% to 35%, while Spanberger leads among women, 47% to 31%, and both older and young voters: those over 70, who break for Spanberger 46% to 43%, and those under 30 who break for her 43% to 33%." One of the survey questions asked, "Do you think your community is more safe or less safe than it was four years ago?" More voters — 41% of them — feel their community's safety has remained unchanged over the past four years, while 38% feel it has decreased and 21% report that it has gotten safer. However, 51% of voters feel their economic situation has worsened in the last four years, while 27% feel their situation is better and 22% feel it is no different. Photo Courtesy: WAVY-TV “Among those who feel their economic situation is worse than four years ago, 56% think the state is headed in the right direction and 56% have a favorable view of the governor," Kimball said. "Additionally, 66% of those who feel they are worse off than four years ago have an unfavorable view of President [Joe] Biden, suggesting they may be blaming the president rather than Gov. [Glenn] Youngkin for their current economic situation." Virginia voters are split on their view of President-elect Donald Trump: 47% have a favorable view of Trump and 47% have an unfavorable view of him. Biden holds a 43% favorable rating among Virginia voters, while 50% have an unfavorable view of the president, according to the survey results. The term-limited Youngkin holds a 48% favorable perception, while 35% have an unfavorable view of the governor. In the 2024 presidential election, 49% of voters supported Vice President Kamala Harris and 44% of voters supported Trump. Six percent did not vote at all. Photo Courtesy: WAVY-TV Participants were asked to rank which issue is the most important issue facing Virginia. The results found the economy was the top issue (38%), followed by housing affordability (14%), healthcare (10%), education (8%), threats to democracy (8%), crime (7%), immigration (7%) and abortion access (5%). Photo Courtesy: WAVY-TV The Virginia general and special elections, which includes the governor's race, is Nov. 4. Early, in-person voting for this election begins Sept. 19.