Republican Ed Gillespie and Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam opened the final debate of the governor’s race by clashing on a single topic: Virginia’s economy.
It may seem odd that the economy is a matter of debate in a state where the unemployment rate has fallen to 3.7 percent, among the lowest in the country and below the national rate of 4.2 percent. And almost 7 in 10 Virginia voters said the economy in their home region is either “excellent” or “good” in a recent Washington Post-Schar School poll.
But that same poll showed that the economy and health care are the issues likely voters are most concerned about this year. And only 44 percent said the state is headed in the right direction, the least-positive assessment in more than two decades of Post polls.
