Most voters say Virginia Democrat who live streamed sex acts for tips should drop out of race: Poll

Most likely voters say that Susanna Gibson, the Virginia Democrat who live-streamed sex acts with her husband online while asking for tips, should drop out of the House of Delegates race in a highly competitive suburban Richmond district, according to a new survey. 

While 56% likely general election voters say Gibson, a nurse practitioner and mother of two young children, should drop out of the race, just 30% say she should continue and 14% say they are unsure, according to a survey released Wednesday by the political research groups Founders Insight and co/efficient.

Additionally, women were notably more likely than men at 60% to 51% to say Gibson should drop out of the race after "The Washington Post" published a scathing expose about her last week.

Additionally, when broken down by political party, 74% of Republicans said she should drop out, as did 44% of Democrats and 43% of independents. Even though the majority of Democrats did not say she should leave the race, it does constitute a plurality for the party, as just 39% say she should continue and 17% say they are unsure. 

Gibson is running against Republican David Owen, a retired home builder who raised significantly less money than her for the race, according to the non-profit Virginia Public Access Project.

Neither the Virginia Democratic Party nor the House Democratic caucus has publicly demanded for Gibson to end her campaign ahead of the Nov. 7 election, but they have said the salacious story is a distraction from the race, according to The Associated Press.

The survey was conducted Sept. 14-18, 2023, with 854 likely general election voters and it has a 3.35% margin of error.

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