Cuccinelli, McAuliffe Tied in VA Governor Race

Republican Ken Cuccinelli and Democrat Terry McAuliffe are tied at 38 percent in the latest Quinnipiac poll of the 2013 Virginia gubernatorial race. According to the poll, if Republican lieutenant governor Bill Bolling runs as an independent (as he has suggested he might), McAuliffe would have a small lead at 34 percent to Cuccinelli's 31 percent and Bolling's 13 percent. Here's more from Quinnipiac:

Today's 38 - 38 percent horse race is almost identical to the findings from a January 9 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University, showing 40 percent for McAuliffe and 39 percent for Cuccinelli. In a three-way race measured January 9, McAuliffe and Cuccinelli had 34 percent each, with 13 percent for Bolling. 

"Although the folks in Richmond are paying close attention to the political maneuvering around the governor's race, most Virginians have not yet begun focusing on it," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. 

Bolling's candidacy seems to be likely to play a spoiler to his fellow Republican. Cuccinelli, elected attorney general in 2009, is the only serious Republican candidate in the race after Bolling dropped out late last year. Bolling pointed to the state party's new nominating convention system at which it would have been nearly impossible to overcome Cuccinelli's well-organized supporters, but the two-term lieutenant governor refused to endorse Cuccinelli in a move that many saw was a precursor to Bolling running as an independent.