RICHMOND, VA — Former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie has a sizable lead among his potential opponents for Virginia's GOP nomination in the 2017 gubernatorial race but lags behind presumptive Democratic nominee Ralph Northam, according to a Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday.

Gillespie, who narrowly lost his bid to unseat popular Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, leads the Republican field at 24 percent, followed by U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman at 10 percent, and Prince William County Board of Supervisors chairman Corey Stewart and state Sen. Frank Wagner of Virginia Beach, both of whom had 4 percent.

Wittman dropped out of the primary race earlier this month while the poll was being conducted.

In a head-to-head match-up against Lt. Gov. Northam, Gillespie trails by four percentage points, 38-34.

Paired against the other three, Northam leads each by nine percentage points.

But Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll, acknowledged it's too early to glean much insight from the poll's findings.

". . . (At) least part of Northam's general election lead and Gillespie's lead among Republicans is due to their better name recognition," he said in a release. "This race for governor is just beginning and none of the candidates, including Northam and Gillespie, in either party has anything approaching widespread name recognition.

"The candidates who reach that level will become the early leaders."

Meanwhile, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has a 52 percent approval rating among state voters — 75 percent among Democrats but just 27 percent among Republicans.

The poll was conducted Dec. 6-11.

Photo: Lt. Governor's Office