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By MICHAEL CODY
Arundel Newspapers Staff Writer If the November referendum regarding a Virginia lottery had been held in July, 55 percent of voters in the Commonwealth would have approved the proposal.
In addition, if the 1988 senatorial election had been in July, former Gov. Charles S. Robb would have defeated Sen. Paul Trible, by a margin of 52 percent to 37 percent.
Those are the key findings of a poll of 826 registered Virginia voters, conducted July 23-26 for th^Rappahannock News&nA other Arundel Newspapers by Mason-Dixon Opinion Research Inc.
Significantly, support for the lottery has dropped nine points, from a figure of 64 percent of Virginians at the beginning of 1987, according to the results of a previous poll.
Since then, lottery advocate Del. J.W. (Billy) O’Brian Jr. (D-Virginia Beach) tentatively decided to accept pay from a company which profits from the sale of lottery supplies in return for promoting the lottery, and then changed his mind.
Also, while Mr. Robb’s hypothetical margin of victory has remained relatively constant since an April 1987 poll conducted by Mason-Dixon, the attitude of most Virginians toward Sen. Trible seems to have improved. Since then, Sen. Trible has served as a member of the Joint Congressional Committee investigating the IranContra affair.
For instance, 53 percent of voters in the Commonwealth rate his performance as senator as good or excellent, compared to 44 percent four months ago.
Mr. Robb was not available for comment this week.
According to Mason-Dixon, the margin for
93.9%