Yesterday, I gave my take on a new poll for the gubernatorial campaign. It showed Republican Bob McDonnell leading Democrat Creigh Deeds by 6 points, 49% to 43%.
The poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling, also surveyed the races for attorney general and lt. governor. It showed Lt. Governor Bill Bolling leading his challenger, Democrat Jody Wagner, 46% to 41%. In the AG race, the poll has Republican Ken Cuccinelli over Democrat Steve Shannon, 45% to 38%.
The numbers for the AG race don’t mean much too me at this point in the race. Neither candidate is very well known, especially Shannon who is relatively new to politics and ran uncontested for the Democratic nomination. Cuccinelli has a strong base of support in the Christian conservative wing of the Republican Party and also ran a very spirited campaign against two strong challengers for the nomination. Still, neither has run statewide before. This race hasn’t taken shape yet, in my view.
The lt. governor numbers are a little interesting. Lt. Governor Bolling won his current job in 2005 and is something of a known quantity in Virginia. His opponent is not, even though she did have a primary challenge for the nomination.
Of all the statewide races, I would have expected Bolling to be the strongest. I suspect these poll results have encouraged the Wagner campaign and they should give the Bolling campaign some pause.
Bolling barely beat former Congresswoman Leslie Byrne in 2005. I wonder if these results don’t foreshadow the possibility for another close race in 2009.
Public Policy Polling is a Democratic polling group based in Raleigh, NC.
Posted by Jay Warren at 04:36 PM. Filed under: main •
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