McDonnell Leads by Eight Points
The latest poll shows that Republican Bob McDonnell has made a comeback. The Mason-Dixon poll quotes McDonnell leading Democrat Creigh Deeds 48-40 among likely voters, with 12% of likely voters still undecided. This shows an improvement from the last Rasmussen poll which placed Deeds behind McDonnell 46-48. Mason-Dixon pollster, Brad Coker, says that McDonnell’s lead is “significant” with only three short weeks left before Election Day.
McDonnell’s ticket-mates are also ahead in the polls. The Republican candidates for lieutenant governor and attorney general also hold sizable leads over their opponents. With the focus on the gubernatorial race, however, a large number of likely voters are undecided in these races which could affect results on Election Day.
Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling holds a current lead of 44-31 percent over Democratic opponent Jody Wagner, with 25 percent undecided. “From a political standpoint, Bolling appears to be as popular as he was four years ago when he was initially elected,” said Coker. “It will be difficult for Wagner to close the 13-point margin given the current political climate.”
Bolling is the only down-ticket candidate who is consistently recognized by likely voters. The poll also shows that even with Election Day just weeks away, 43 percent of people said they do not recognize Wagner’s name. Similarly, 43 percent do not recognize the Republican candidate for attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli and 48 percent do not recognize his opponent, Democrat Steve Shannon.
The attorney general’s race has the potential to become competitive, according to Coker, due to the combination of the voters unfamiliarity with the candidates and a large number of voters remaining undecided. Presently, Cuccinelli tops Shannon 37-30. With that said, Cuccinelli will likely benefit from the coattails of his up-ticket-mates and GOP favorites McDonnell and Bolling.
Mason-Dixon polled 625 likely voters statewide by telephone from October 6th to October 8th. The survey’s margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points..