A new survey of this year’s Virginia gubernatorial race by Public Policy Polling (D) has Republican former state Attorney General Bob McDonnell posting a lead over the Democratic candidate, state Sen. Creigh Deeds.
The numbers: McDonnell 49%, Deeds 43%, with a ±4% margin of error.
A round of polls from other firms, taken right after the June 2 primary, had Deeds ahead and apparently enjoying a post-primary bump. PPP did not release a poll at the time, but it would appear that Deeds’ post-primary bounce may have gone away.
The pollster’s analysis notes that the Republican nominee for Governor in 2005 also had a lead at this point in the race, but the Democrat ultimately won the race: “The question now is whether McDonnell can sustain it, unlike Jerry Kilgore, or whether Deeds will come from behind to win as Tim Kaine did.”