Virginia voters who tuned into the only gubernatorial debate of the campaign may have come away disappointed if they were hoping for a clear policy discussion, according to one political analyst.

Thursday’s event at Norfolk State University was the only scheduled matchup between Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Democratic former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who are running to be Virginia’s first woman governor. Some topical questions received a direct answer, but many did not, leading the moderators to continually repeat their queries.

“This was a lot of combat, lots of personal attacks, and in many cases, a policy-thin conversation,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington. “In fact, you could barely hear at some points wha

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