POLL: Virginia Voters Strongly Disapprove of Kiggans and Wittman-Backed DOGE Cuts

Virginia Republicans fear that DOGE cuts “will be an albatross around the neck of every Republican candidate” 

New polling shows that DOGE is deeply underwater with Virginia voters, spelling trouble for Republicans like Jen Kiggans and Rob Wittman who have stood in lockstep with their party bosses and done nothing to stop the devastating cuts to Virginia’s workforce.

Virginia Republicans are publicly warning that “DOGE cuts will sink them in Virginia” and that it “will be an albatross around the neck of every Republican candidate” in the state.

Reminder: Kiggans has faced protests at her office for failing to stand up to Elon Musk, and Wittman directly backed DOGE during a telephone town hall, despite his constituents expressing their concern with DOGE’s actions.

DCCC Spokesperson Eli Cousin:
“This latest polling is a massive warning sign for Republicans like Jen Kiggans and Rob Wittman, who will lose because they have done nothing to stand up to Elon Musk and DOGE as they take a chainsaw to Virginia communities.”

Read the reporting for yourself:

Axios: Republicans worry DOGE cuts will sink them in Virginia governor’s race
By Alex Isenstadt | June 7, 2025

• Republicans are increasingly worried that budget cuts by Elon Musk’s DOGE could cost them dearly in November’s vote for Virginia governor — an early electoral test of President Trump’s policies.
• Why it matters: Virginia has one of the highest percentages of federal employees in the country — more than 5% of the state’s workforce by some estimates — and Republicans’ internal polls are starting to show the damage from tens of thousands of federal layoffs.
• Zoom in: The University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center has projected that 32,000 jobs could be lost in the state this year, many of them federal positions.
• “Northern Virginia is filled with people who suffered the consequences of the DOGE cuts, and it’s hard to see them being sympathetic to a Republican candidate who supports the DOGE cuts,” said Whit Ayers, a veteran Republican pollster.
• “I suspect this will be an albatross around the neck of every Republican candidate this year,” said Virginia Republican Bill Bolling, a former lieutenant governor.
• By the numbers: A private poll done for the campaign of a statewide Republican candidate suggested that just 39% of voters had a favorable view of DOGE.
• Nearly half of voters surveyed said they knew of someone impacted by the DOGE cuts, according to results shared with Axios.
• Even non-federal workers in those areas could be impacted by DOGE, given the role federal funding plays in driving the local economy.
• “With over 230,000 Virginians working in or around the federal government, especially in Northern Virginia and Norfolk, any proposal that threatens those jobs — like DOGE — turns into a high-stakes issue,” he added.

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