ABC News(NEW YORK) — Donald Trump’s campaign has decided to close up shop in the key battleground state of Virginia, in a bid to concentrate its resources in more competitive state contests, two senior sources confirmed to ABC News.
The move de facto concedes the state and its 13 electoral votes to the Democratic ticket of Hillary Clinton and former Virginia governor Tim Kaine.
Polling conducted this month by Roanoke College gives Clinton a 9-point edge among likely voters in the state, leading with 45 percent to Trump’s 36 percent.
On Monday, the Trump campaign fired its chairman in Virginia, Corey Stewart, for organizing a demonstration outside the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C, after numerous Republicans abandoned their support of the GOP candidate amid revelations of lewd comments he made about women.
Stewart protested the move in a post on Facebook, saying his home state is “winnable,” and calling the pullout a “betrayal.”
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