Is Terry McAuliffe Loosing Steam in VA Democratic Gubernatorial Primary?
Posted Jun 03, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Maurice Berger, Political Director, PollTrack
Is Terry McAuliffe in trouble in his bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Virginia. A new survey suggests that the former DNC head may not be as far ahead as some recent polls have suggested: The SurveyUSA
poll reports that in four Northern Virginia counties -- Fairfax, Arlington, Loudoun and
Price William -- challenger Brian Moran (D) "remains a force" with just one week until voters head to the
polls. Moran leads with 43% in the DC suburbs, followed by McAuliffe (D) at 27% and Creigh Deeds (D) at 20%. PollTrack suggests that since this region makes more than a quarter of the state's likely Democratic voters--and often has very high turnout--the race may be far from over for Moran. Another survey actually reports that McAuliffe is no longer the presumptive leader: Public Policy Polling reports that Creigh Deeds now leads at 27%, followed by Terry McAuliffe at 24%, and Brian Moran at 22%.
But the race remains very close, since these numbers are well within the poll's margin of error. The PPP survey suggest that it is Deeds who might have the momentum: Over the last month Deeds has gone from 14% to 27% while McAuliffe has
dropped from 30% to 24% and Moran has pretty much stayed in place.
