A new poll appears to confirm that Democrat Timothy M. Kaine has taken the lead over Republican George Allen in Virginia’s high-stakes U.S. Senate race.
The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll shows Kaine leading Allen 49-44 percent, with 7 percent of likely voters undecided.
The poll comes on the heels of three others showing Kaine having developed an edge after more than a year of running neck-and-neck with Allen, a fellow former governor.
Two recent polls showed Kaine with a more significant advantage. A Quinnipiac/New York Times/CBS News poll two weeks ago gave Kaine a seven-point lead while a Washington Post poll released the same day put Kaine’s lead at eight points.
Both of those raised eyebrows, however, for their heavy Democratic sampling. But another poll from Fox News released the same week gave Kaine a 47-43 percent lead.
The latest poll shows Allen with a narrow two-point edge among men, but trailing by 10 points among women. Allen also leads Kaine among white voters, 55-39 percent, but trails among non-whites, 12-79 percent.
Allen, who has hammered on Kaine in recent weeks over looming defense cuts, maintains a narrow edge among military voters, 48-45 percent.
