A new Suffolk poll shows state Sen. Creigh Deeds with a narrow lead in this Tuesday’s Democratic primary for Governor of Virginia, edging out former DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe — the former Hillary Clinton backer whose TV appearances during the 2008 primaries certainly added some flair to the campaign, and who led in all the polls until recently — former state Del. Brian Moran.
The numbers: Deeds 29%, McAuliffe 26%, and Moran 23%, with a ±4.4% margin of error. There is no prior Suffolk poll for direct comparison.
Deeds has spent much of the primary race playing the role of the under-funded third man in the race, behind McAuliffe and Moran. But then something happened recently: Moran began aggressively attacking McAuliffe, causing Deeds to rise up in the polls.
However, the race remains fluid. From the pollster’s analysis: “What makes this race even tougher to call is that when undecided voters statewide were prodded to choose one of the three candidates, many were breaking to McAuliffe and, to a lesser extent, Moran.”
