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Poll: ‘Too conservative’ Cuccinelli trails McAuliffe by eight

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economic-forecast-headerNearly half of Virginia voters label Ken Cuccinelli “too conservative,” one possible reason the Republican is trailing big in the Virginia governor’s race.

A new Quinnipiac University poll has Cuccinelli behind Democrat Terry McAuliffe by a 47 percent-to-39 percent margin. Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvis gets 8 percent of the vote in the race.

McAuliffe’s lead has grown from a Sept. 18 Quinnipiac poll that had him at 44 percent, Cuccinelli at 41 percent and Sarvis at 7 percent.

Forty-six percent of those polled say Cuccinelli is “too conservative,” playing into McAuliffe’s campaign strategy, said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

“With less than a month to go until Election Day, McAuliffe is doing better among Democrats than Cuccinelli is among Republicans.  McAuliffe and Libertarian Robert Sarvis are denying Cuccinelli the domination among independents he needs for victory. To get back in the race, Cuccinelli must bring back into the fold Republican defectors and pull in more independent voters – a tough task this far into the campaign,” Brown said.

More from the poll:

  • Virginia likely voters are divided 49-47 percent on whether they support Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act.
  • Voters oppose 71-24 percent shutting down the federal government to block the health care law. Opposition is 98-1 percent among Democrats and 70-25 percent among independent voters, while Republicans are divided with 48 percent supporting the shutdown and 45 percent opposed.

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