Republican takes lead in Virginia Gubernatorial Polls

It is a very tight race, but McDonnell has a slim lead right now.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Virginia voters finds McDonnell leading Deeds 44% to 41%. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and 12% are undecided.
A month ago, just after Deeds beat two other gubernatorial candidates in the state Democratic Primary, he posted a six-point lead over McDonnell, 47% to 41%. . . .

Another poll puts him slightly farther ahead.

Republican Bob McDonnell has opened a six-point lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds in the race for governor, according to a survey of likely November voters released today.

The Public Policy Polling analysis finds McDonnell ahead of Deeds 49-43 percent, within the poll's 4 percent margin of error. . . .

The PPP findings also indicate that McDonnell's six-point lead is identical to one Republican Jerry Kilgore held over Kaine, a Democrat, at this stage of the 2005 gubernatorial campaign (Kaine went on to win the race, a point emphasized by Democrats).

Public Policy Polling is a Democrat-affiliated outfit based in North Carolina, noted one Republican who rejects the firm's analysis of parallels between polling of Kilgore's 2005 race and McDonnell's 2009 contest. . . . .