Today’s Washington Post takes a look at the differing attitudes of people in Northern Virginia and people in the rest of the state:
Northern Virginians, who face some of the nation’s worst traffic, were twice as likely as voters in other parts of the state to cite transportation as a top issue in the governor’s race. Twenty-four percent called it one of their top two issues, compared with 11 percent in other areas of the state. Twelve percent of Northern Virginia voters called it their most important issue.
Only in the state’s southeast, where bridge and tunnel backups are a daily headache, were the numbers at all comparable. There, 12 percent of voters called transportation their top issue and 20 percent said it was in their top two.
Registered voters in NoVa are somewhat more likely to say they would pay more taxes to build and maintain roads — 46 percent said they would be in favor of a transportation tax increase and 50 percent were opposed. Elsewhere, only 42 percent of voters said they would pay more in taxes for better roads; 56 percent were opposed.
The differences go beyond dealing with the region’s perennial traffic jams.
Northern Virginians feel better than other Virginia voters about the direction of the state, about President Obama and about the federal stimulus package.
Perhaps buoyed by fewer job losses than seen elsewhere, 60 percent of Northern Virginia voters believe the state is on the right track. Only 43 percent elsewhere in the state agree. (That number dips to a meager 26 percent in the depressed western region, including the Shenandoah Valley.)
Sixty percent of Northern Virginia voters approve of Obama’s job performance, eight points higher than Virginians elsewhere.
Thirty-one percent of NoVa voters believe the federal stimulus plan has already helped the state’s economy. An additional 33 percent believe it will help the economy over time. Only 27 percent of Virginians in other areas think the stimulus package has helped, and 23 percent think it hasn’t yet but will in time.
Those in Northern Virginia are more likely to believe abortion should be legal. In Northern Virginia, 60 percent of those surveyed said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with 53 percent in the rest of the state.
It will be interesting to see how these differences shape the 2009 campaigns, and which region ends up being the one that decides the election.
