Poll: McAuliffe Lead Shrinks to Two Points

Poll: McAuliffe Lead Shrinks to Two Points

on Fri, 1 Nov 2013

A poll released Friday by Emerson College shows that Democrat Terry McAuliffe's lead over Republican Ken Cuccinelli has shrunk to only two points in the race for Virginia's next governor. Currently, McAuliffe sits at 42%, Cuccinelli is at 40%, and Libertarian Robert Sarvis is at 13%. The election is Tuesday.

According to Real Clear Politics, out of over 15 polls taken since July, this is the closest the Republican has come to his Democrat opponent since a July poll had Cuccinelli up by six on July 8. Almost every other poll has shown McAuliffe with a lead ranging from four to 15 points. The Real Clear Politics poll of polls shows McAuliffe ahead  by 8\eight points, 45 to 37%.

The race, however, might truly be narrowing. A Quinnipiac poll released three days ago showed McAuliffe up only by four points. Momentum is everything in the closing days of an election, and this is the second poll this week that shows real movement towards Cuccinelli.

One factor that might be helping the Republican is the fallout over ObamaCare. Between the website debacle and millions losing the very insurance plans Obama repeatedly promised they could keep, the fact that Obama will be campaigning with McAuliffe Sunday is probably good news for Cuccinelli.