By Greg Giroux CQ Staff
Republican Bob McDonnell has a commanding 19-point lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds in the Virginia governors race according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted Oct. 17-19 an outlier in a series of recent polls that have given McDonnell a steady but smaller edge.
The most recent survey of 595 adults who say they are likely to vote in the election on Nov. 3 gives McDonnell a 29-point lead among men and an 8-point lead among women.
Most polls have given McDonnell a healthy lead among political independents though his 71 percent to 27 percent advantage among unaffiliated voters in this poll is staggering.
Another of the surveys anomalous results is that McDonnell gets 31 percent of the African American vote a constituency that usually gives 90 percent of its votes to Democratic candidates. Other surveys have McDonnell winning less than 10 percent of the black vote.
A Clarus Research Group poll taken Oct. 18-19 gave McDonnell an 8-point lead over Deeds 49 percent to 41 percent.
CQ Politics rates the Virginia governors race as Leans Republican.
