Virginia Governor Race Tied as Pro-Life Ed Gillespie Pulls Even With Pro-Abortion Ralph Northam

State   |   Dave Andrusko   |   Sep 22, 2017   |   1:57PM   |   Richmond, VA

A pitch for money by incumbent pro-abortion Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia , who is not up for re-election until 2018, drew me to a Suffolk University Poll which also talks about this year’s race for governor in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

For much of the year pro-life Republican Ed Gillespie has trailed pro-abortion Democrat Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam in the polls, sometimes by as much as 5- 7 points.

Not anymore.

The poll, released Monday, found Gillespie and Northam deadlocked at 42% . Twelve percent of the respondents were undecided while Libertarian Cliff Hyra drew 3%.

On June 7, National Right to Life endorsed Gillespie in the Republican Party primary. As NRLC noted at the time Gillespie has a long history of pro-life advocacy within the Republican Party. As chairman of the Republican National Committee, Ed Gillespie strongly supported the pro-life plank in the Republican platform. As Counselor to President George W. Bush, Gillespie championed pro-life Congressman Henry Hyde to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This year, Gillespie accompanied Vice President Mike Pence for his historic speech at the March for Life.

“Ed Gillespie is a strong advocate for life. As governor, he would support and sign pro-life legislation, including legislation to protect an unborn child from abortion at the point he or she can feel pain, and he opposes using taxpayer dollars to pay for abortion,” said David N. O’Steen, Ph.D., executive director of the National Right to Life Committee. “National Right to Life looks forward to working with him in Virginia to implement pro-life policies to protect unborn children from abortion, and medically dependent or disabled persons, whose lives are threatened by euthanasia and assisted suicide .”

By contrast, Northam’s record in the state Assembly was solidly pro-abortion. Planned Parenthood’s Virginia affiliate has endorsed Northam and pledged to spend $3 million in the race on behalf of Northam.

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Fenit Nirappil of The Washington Post refers to the Virginia gubernatorial race as a “test of swing-state politics in the era of President Trump” in anticipation of the 2018 congressional elections.

Olivia Gans Turner, President of the Virginia Society for Human Life, which also endorsed Gillespie, told NRL News Today told NRL News Today

“VSHL endorsed Ed Gillespie in the Spring. After four years of pro-abortion roadblocks from Gov. Terry McAuliffe, pro-life voters in Virginia are grateful to have a strong pro-life candidate in this year’s race for Governor. We are confident that as Governor, Ed Gillespie will sign any strong, protective legislation that comes out of the General Assembly, including the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.”

Sen. Tim Kaine was, of course, pro-abortion Hillary Clinton’s running mate in 2016. There is not yet an established Republican candidate to run against him next year, so the question the Boston-based Suffolk University poll asked was

Does Senator Tim Kaine deserve to be reelected in 2018–yes or no?

An astonishing 44.80% said no to 43.40% who said yes. Kaine prevailed in 2012 by only 3% and even though he is loved and pampered by state and national media outlets, he appears to be in serious trouble.

LifeNews.com Note: Dave Andrusko is the editor of National Right to Life News and an author and editor of several books on abortion topics. This post originally appeared in at National Right to Life News Today —- an online column on pro-life issues.