Second Poll Shows Kaine Ahead

By Shane Goldmacher  //  September 19, 2012 | 12:08 p.m.

For the first time since the race began, Democrat Tim Kaine has taken the lead in his closely watched race for Virginia's Senate seat against Republican George Allen, according to two new polls released Wednesday.

The two former governors had been deadlocked for more than 18 months, as both well-known political figures have crisscrossed the commonwealth. Allen is trying to win back the Senate seat he held from 2001 to 2007.

But a new Washington Post poll has Kaine leading Allen 51 percent to 43 percent among likely voters, and 50 percent to 42 percent among registered voters. It comes on the heels of a Quinnipiac/New York Times/CBS News survey Wednesday morning that had Kaine leading Allen 51 percent to 44 percent.

The movement toward Kaine comes as other polls have shown the battleground state shifting toward President Obama, as well. Obama led Mitt Romney, for instance, by the exact same margin -- 8 percentage points -- as Kaine is ahead, in the latest Post survey.

A gender gap emerged in the Post poll, even as both Kaine and Allen have heavily courted women. Allen aired a series of female testimonials in his opening television gambit this summer, but women preferred Kaine by 14 points in the Post poll, double the 7-point lead Kaine had held among women in May. The candidates will debate on Thursday in the suburbs of Washington D.C., in the first of three remaining face-offs before the election.

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