Former Virginia governors George Allen and Tim Kaine are in a statistical dead heat for the state’s U.S. Senate seat being vacated next year by Democratic Sen. Jim Webb, according to a new poll by Roanoke College.
The survey of 601 Virginia residents taken Sept. 6-17, gives Republican Allen a slight edge at the moment over Democrat Kaine by 41 percent to 39 percent, with 19 percent undecided. The poll has a plus or minus rating of 4 percent, putting the two almost dead even.
“While the election of 2012 is still a long way off — 14 months is an eternity in political time — it appears the Senate race may well be nip-and-tuck for the next year and beyond,” said Harry Wilson, director of Roanoke College’s Institute for Policy and Opinion Research (IPOR).
The IPOR survey also found that President Barack Obama, who won the state in 2008, might find the going a bit rougher this time around.
Among those polled in the survey, Obama trailed a generic unnamed Republican candidate by 41 to 33 percent; when paired up against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney Obama lost by 45 to 37 percent, but he did a little better against Texas Gov. Rick Perry, trailing 42 to 40 percent.
Against other potential GOP rivals, however, the president did better: In a matchup against Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann he came out ahead by 46 to 35 percent; against Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Obama won 43 to 33 percent; and against Sarah Palin he did the best of all, winning by a margin of 50 to 31 percent.
© 2013 Newsmax. All rights reserved.