The first Public Policy Polling survey of Virginia voters in calendar year 2013 has Democrat Terry McAuliffe leading Republican Ken Cuccinelli by five points in the state governor’s race. McAuliffe was at 46 percent in the poll to 41 percent for Cuccinelli. PPP also tested a three-way race that would feature Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling as an independent candidate. In that scenario, McAuliffe was at 40 percent to 32 percent for Cuccinelli and 15 percent for Bolling.
Recent published reports have suggested that Bolling, a Republican, is giving serious consideration to running for governor as an independent.
The biggest hurdle for Cuccinelli, the sitting attorney general, could be his relative unpopularity. Only 29 percent of voters have a favorable opinion of Cuccinelli, with 45 percent holding an unfavorable view. A surprise in the early numbers is the 11 percent of Republican voters who say they would cross over to support McAuliffe, a former Democratic National Committee chairman, if the election were held today. McAuliffe leaks only 6 percent of Democratic voters to Cuccinelli.
Voters seem to know little about McAuliffe. Only 51 percent of voters have an opinion of the presumptive Democratic nominee, with his favorable/unfavorable split at 26 percent/25 percent.
Bolling is viewed favorably by 29 percent of voters, with 16 percent holding an unfavorable view.
McAuliffe leads among independents in the two-way race with Cuccinelli by a 43 percent-39 percent margin, and the independent vote is also close to a dead heat in the three-way race with Bolling included. McAuliffe was at 30 percent among independents in the three-way, with Cuccinelli at 27 percent and Bolling at 24 percent.
More online: www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2013/01/mcauliffe-has-early-lead-in-va-gov.html
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