Former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) holds a narrow lead over former Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) in a new Quinnipiac University poll for the New York Times and CBS.
Kaine leads Allen by 50 to 46 percent in their Senate contest, a dip from a 7-point edge he had last time the pollster surveyed the state. He's led Allen in most public polling for the last two months, running slightly ahead of President Obama in most of those polls.
The race between the two remains tight and Allen can still win if Mitt Romney carries the state, but Kaine seems to have the edge heading into the final week of the campaign. Obama leads Mitt Romney by 49 to 47 percent in the Virginia poll.
Kaine released two new ads on Wednesday, positive spots to shore up his bipartisan appeal. In one, he recites the Pledge of Allegiance with schoolchildren before saying, "Washington needs to start living the values that we teach our own children." The other is a straight biographical spot in which Kaine touts his time as a missionary, Richmond mayor and governor.
The live-caller poll of 1,074 likely voters was conducted from Oct. 23-28, right before Hurricane Sandy hit Virginia. The poll called landlines and cellphones and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.
