NORFOLK, Va — With under 90 days to go until Election Day, Republicans believe Virginia is in play in the presidential race while the Chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia says they're not taking anything for granted.
Polls have shown a close race in the Commonwealth, although there haven't been too many polls with Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket in Virginia.
Four years ago Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by about 10%, but then a year later Glenn Youngkin was elected governor as a Republican by 2%.
"We're very excited about what we see in Virginia. This is obviously a battleground state. I think it's a competitive state," said Michael Whatley, Chair of the Republican National Committee, during a recent visit to Richmond.
Tight polling before Biden dropped out showed a competitive state for Republicans, leading Trump to campaign in Chesapeake in June.
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"Virginia is a purple state. You're not going to be able to win with just Republican voters. Democrats can't win with just Democrat voters. You're going to have to compete in the middle," said Whatley.
Gov. Youngkin said he believed Virginia is in play and campaigned with Trump during his visit to Chesapeake.
"Virginia has been an incredibly tight political state for years and it continues to be so and so I believe Virginia is a toss-up right now," said Youngkin.
Democrats say they're building up their ground game.
"We have elections every year in Virginia. We don't take anything for granted. We put one foot in front of the other and we always run like we're behind," said Susan Swecker, Chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia.
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Swecker says about 9,000 new people recently signed up to be volunteers for the Harris campaign.
"Nothing is more important than having that neighbor-to-neighbor, person-to-person contact," said Swecker.
The Harris campaign has also opened 18 field offices across the state.
Harris was able to quickly transition the Biden campaign into her own.
"We've got these offices opened all across the Commonwealth and I will tell you that they're packed," said Swecker.
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A Trump Virginia campaign spokesperson told News 3 they've opened or are in the process of opening 15 offices around Virginia.
"The grassroots push, it depends on the messaging, but I believe the grassroots push is going to be the key in getting voters to the polls on both sides," said Dr. Eric Claville, a political analyst from Norfolk State University.
A close race is expected nationwide as more polling is done in Virginia with Harris at the top of the ticket.
"I think we can see this race coming back to a statistical dead heat," said Claville.
