McDonnell up in two new polls

Two polls out Tuesday seem to affirm the results in several other surveys tracking Virginia's gubernatorial race: Republican Bob McDonnell leads Democrat Creigh Deeds by solid margins.

A Clarus Research Group poll lists the contest as 49-41 percent in favor of McDonnell, with 10 percent of likely voters undecided. Those numbers include voters who are leaning towards one candidate but haven't decided how they will vote.

SurveyUSA puts McDonnell of Deeds by 19 points (59-40 percent), with only 1 percent of the electorate undecided.

Both polls come one day after a Christopher Newport University poll commissioned by The Virginian-Pilot showed McDonnell atop Deeds by 14 points, 45-31 percent. That poll found 22 percent of likely voters are undecided.

The men will meet tonight in Roanoke for the fourth and final debate of this campaign. A live Web stream of the debate can be seen here at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Results in the CNU and Clarus polls were derived from live telephone interviews, a method some pollsters consider more reliable than data gathered through an automated system, which is how SurveyUSA collects responses.

The polls out Tuesday also give solid leads to the other two Republicans running statewide -- Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and attorney general candidate Ken Cuccinelli -- over their respective Democratic rivals, Jody Wagner and Steve Shannon.

Likewise, the CNU poll listed the GOP candidates on top. But it showed both races as close contests with more than two-fifths of voter undecided.

-- Julian Walker

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