With Virginia Sen. Jim Webb (D) retiring at the end of his term, the race to replace him in 2012 looks like a total toss up, according to a new PPP poll.
In the poll, the strongest potential candidate from each party — former Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine and former Republican Sen. George Allen — topped every challenger thrown against them. Yet in a head-to-head match-up, Kaine and Allen tied at 47% apiece.
Last month, Allen announced he would seek to reclaim the seat he lost to Webb in 2006. That was a bad year to be a Republican — Democrats reclaimed control of the Senate in those midterm elections — but Allen didn’t help his reelection bid when he used the term ‘macaca’ to describe an Indian-American Democratic campaign worker. Allen’s campaign stalled after that, and the incident still hangs over him today.
Meanwhile Kaine, a popular former governor, has been heavily recruited by Democrats to jump into the race in the hopes he would hold a crucial Democratic seat. President Obama even invited Kaine to the White House to talk about a Senate bid.
Back in November, a PPP poll showed Kaine leading Allen 50% to 44% in a hypothetical matchup — though that was before Webb had announced his retirement and the race became a clear possibility.
If Kaine doesn’t get in the race, Democrats would still have a chance of holding onto the seat if either of two recently ousted House members ran instead.
Former Rep. Tom Perriello (D), who lost his seat in last year’s midterms, trailed Kaine 48% to 41% in the latest survey, despite almost 60% of the state not knowing Perriello well enough to form an opinion of him. Former Rep. Rick Boucher (D) who also lost his reelection bid last year, trailed Webb 47% to 42%.
The PPP survey was conducted February 24-27 among 524 registered voters in Virginia. It has a margin of error of 3.5%
