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

Neither the Virginia Democratic Party nor the House Democratic caucus has publicly demanded for Gibson to end her campaign.
Voting in midterm election, Madison, Wisc., Nov. 8, 2022

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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