Polls: McAuliffe leads Cuccinelli in Virginia

The two are the latest to show McAuliffe ahead — he’s led in the last 10 public polls of the race.

McAuliffe’s lead is built largely on the public’s dislike for his opponent rather than any positive views of his own campaign. Fully 47 percent of voters hold an unfavorable opinion of Cuccinelli in the Washington Post poll, and McAuliffe leads him by 24 points with female voters.

“Virginians are siding with Terry McAuliffe’s mainstream business approach over Ken Cuccinelli’s extreme ideological agenda,” said McAuliffe spokesperson Josh Schwerin.  “The more voters learn about Ken Cuccinelli’s extreme record the more concerned they are.  With about 40 days to go about half of Virginians now view Cuccinelli negatively, a sign that his brand of divisive social ideology is simply too far outside the Virginia mainstream.”

Cuccinelli’s campaign pushed back.

“Coming off a week in which Ken Cuccinelli secured one of the most important business endorsements in Virginia while Terry McAuliffe was exposed for having misled Virginians about critical policy details and his continued involvement with GreenTech Automotive, our campaign feels very good about our position heading into Wednesday’s pivotal Fairfax Chamber of Commerce Debate,” said Cuccinelli Communications Director Richard Cullen. “This contest has been and remains a close race featuring a significant percentage of undecided voters.”