Poll: 60 Percent of Virginians Want McDonnell Behind Bars

According to a new poll, about 60 percent of Virginians believe former governor Bob McDonnell deserves to go to prison after being found guilty of 11 counts of public corruption.

The poll, sponsored by the University of Mary Washington’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, found 28 percent of Virginians said he should not be sentenced to prison time while 12 percent weren’t sure or did not answer.

Five weeks ago, a federal jury in Richmond convicted Bob McDonnell of selling the governor’s office in exchange for luxury goods and a $120,000 in loans and gifts from Jonnie R. Williams Sr.

McDonnell was convicted of 11 of 13 counts of public corruption while his wife, Maureen, was convicted of 9 of her 13 counts. The couple faces up to 20 years in prison for each conviction, though 46 percent of the poll’s respondents said McDonnell should serve just one to five years. The next largest group, 16 percent, said he should serve six to 10 years.

“The strong public support for prison time demonstrates the extent to which the public is furious with ethical misconduct in Richmond,” said Stephen J. Farnsworth, a professor of political science at the university. “These results demonstrate the depth of voter anger with politicians who are thought to take better care of the well-connected than of ordinary citizens. Lawmakers ignore this resentment at their peril.”

The results fell along party lines: 75 percent of Democrats, 70 percent of independents and 57 percent of Republicans wanted to see the former Republican governor sent to prison. Farnsworth’s analysis of the data revealed that 71 percent of women and 64 percent of men said they wished to see McDonnell put behind bars.

Princeton Survey Research Associates International surveyed 1,000 Virginians by phone from Oct. 1 to Oct. 6. The poll has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

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