Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who is pro-life has cut the lead of his pro-abortion opponent Terry McAuliffe in the race for governor in Virginia.
McAuliffe leads Cuccinelli among likely voters 45 percent to 41 percent, with 9 percent for Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvis, according to a Quinnipiac University poll. McAuliffe had had stronger leads earlier in the month but is now within the margin of error. The poll found that if Sarvis were not in the race, likely voters would split for McAuliffe 47 percent to 45 percent, which Quinnipiac describes as “too close to call.”
The new poll shows four percent of likely voters are undecided and 7 percent of those who chose a candidate said they might change their mind.
Last month, the polling firm had McAuliffe up 46 percent to 39 percent.
With third party candidates not traditionally getting the percentage of vote often shown in polls leading up to the election, the race could be closer once voters actually head to the polls early next month. In fact, just 62 percent of voters who chose Sarvis said they would definitely vote for him, with 18 percent saying they were likely to change their minds.
Conservative writer Erick Erickson was delighted by the news and posted as much at Red State.
“Ken is a good friend and I’ve been both dearly worried about him and deeply disappointed in a bunch of Republicans who’ve decided to throw him under the bus. Many conservatives feel the Cooch campaign ran away from them and so many of them ran away from him. But it appears as the reality of a possible Terry McAuliffe victory sets in, they are all returning home,” he said. “Ken Cuccinelli is a fine man and will make an outstanding Governor of Virginia. “Republicans need to rally to Ken. Many people in the GOP want Cuccinelli to lose so they can blame his loss on social conservatism or populism or anti-corporatism or a host of other things.”
“Let’s do what we can to help him win. He is within striking distance, there is still time, and he could use any spare cash you might have on hand to close out this last week of the race,” Erickson added.
Emily Buchanan of Women Speak Out – Virginia, a political action committee that supports pro-life candidate Ken Cuccinelli, says there is a huge contrast between the two candidates on abortion.
“Our pro-life candidate, Ken Cuccinelli, has made decisive strides in the this important race – it’s a statistical tie in the polls. His campaign is gaining momentum,” she said over the weekend. “Ken is a faithful, devout Christian and an authentic pro-life champion who fought to defund Planned Parenthood of our taxpayer dollars. He was even the first Attorney General to take on Obamacare because it forces you and I to fund abortions.”
“Pro-life governors were imperative to our past pro-life victories this summer. In Texas, Ohio, and North Carolina, we had a pro-life friend in the governor’s mansion. They kept our momentum going, and now we’re facing the abortion industry and their puppet candidate whose goal is massive expansion of the abortion agenda,” Buchanan added.
She continued: “In Virginia, Ken’s opponent Terry McAuliffe has vowed to keep Big Abortion in business by helping substandard abortion clinics to skirt common sense regulations. They’ve enlisted the help of their friend Hillary Clinton to help fund Terry so they can change the abortion facility regulations from inside the governor’s mansion.”
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McAuliffe was caught dodging a reporter’s question after inventing a false power he claimed he would have as governor to keep unlawful abortion clinics open.
McAuliffe is quick to attack his pro-life Republican opponent on the issue of abortion, but, as Weekly Standard John McCormack reports, he won’t answer questions about his own stance on abortion and whether he supports taxpayer-funded abortions up to the day of birth.
At a campaign event, McAuliffe pledged his unwavering — and disturbing — support for abortion providers and facilities in the state of Virginia if given the governor’s seat.
