CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – While Democrat Abigail Spanberger still holds a strong lead over Republican Winsome Earle-Sears in the race to be Virginia’s next governor, her running mates are not enjoying similar success, according to the latest poll from the Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at VCU.

Spanberger holds a 7-point lead over Earle-Sears in the first polling since the revelation of Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones’s violent text messages in which he opined that he’d like to see former Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert and Gilbert’s family become the victims of gun violence to influence Gilbert to support gun control reform.

Spanberger’s 49-42% lead is down from the 9-point margin she held in the VCU poll released in September.

More significantly, the new poll shows Jason Miyares, the incumbent, leading Jones 45-42%, and Hashmi, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, clinging to a 1-point lead over former conservative radio host John Reid.

Spanberger and Reid are both scheduled for campaign stops in Charlottesville on Tuesday evening.