About 6 percent of voters in Virginia’s Republican primary were Democrats, according to a CNN exit poll.
Did Virginia Democrats turn out to vote against Trump?
Libby Nelson was Vox’s editorial director, politics and policy, leading coverage of how government action and inaction shape American life. Libby has more than a decade of policy journalism experience, including at Inside Higher Ed and Politico. She joined Vox in 2014.
That jibes with anecdotal evidence of Democrats voting in the opposite party’s primary strategically — though whether “strategically” translated into “for Donald Trump” (because they thought Trump would be easy to beat) or “against Donald Trump” (because they were horrified by the prospect of a Trump presidency) isn’t yet clear.
But this number should be taken with two big grains of salt. First, it’s a small sample size from an early exit poll in a state that’s still too close to call.
Second, Democrats crossing the aisle in Virginia is a time-honored tradition. In 2012, 5 percent of Virginia’s Republican primary voters were Democrats, according to CNN. In 2008, 3 percent were — during a bitterly fought Democratic primary when Democrats had good reason to weigh in on their own party.
Go deeper:
- Vox’s Dara Lind argued that Democrats shouldn’t support Trump because they think he’ll be easy to beat — because there’s no guarantee that’s true.
- The Washington Post’s David Weigel talked to Democrats voting in the Republican primary, mostly for Rubio.
More in: Super Tuesday 2016 results
By Dara Lind
