Polls: Widening lead for McAuliffe in governor’s race?

A pair of polls out on Monday have Democrat Terry McAuliffe with a growing lead over Republican Ken Cuccinelli in the Virginia governor’s race.

A new NBC/Marist poll has McAuliffe leading Cuccinelli by five points, 43 percent to 38 percent, while a new Washington Post poll puts McAuliffe at 47 percent to 39 percent for Cuccinelli.

The last Marist polling, done back in May, had Cuccinelli ahead by three points (45 percent to 42 percent). The Washington Post polling in May had Cuccinelli with a five-point lead (46 percent to 41 percent).

“Virginians are siding with Terry McAuliffe’s mainstream business approach over Ken Cuccinelli’s extreme ideological agenda,” McAuliffe spokesperson Josh Schwerin said Monday night. “The more voters learn about Ken Cuccinelli’s extreme record the more concerned they are.  With about 40 days to go about half of Virginians now view Cuccinelli negatively, a sign that his brand of divisive social ideology is simply too far outside the Virginia mainstream.”

The Post poll put Libertarian Robert Sarvis at 10 percent, his best showing among several recent polls of the Virginia race. The lead for McAuliffe was narrower without Sarvis included in the race – at 49 percent for McAuliffe to 44 percent for Cuccinelli.

Both polls give McAuliffe a wide lead among women – the NBC/Marist poll puts the Democrat ahead by 18 points, and the Post poll puts McAuliffe up by 24 points.