Poll: Allen in Dead Heat With Kaine for Virginia Senate Seat

Ex-senator George Allen is in a close race for his old Senate seat in Virginia, with a new poll showing the Republican practically tied for the lead with Democrat Tim Kaine.

The Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday showed Allen with 44 percent and Kaine with 45 percent. The university's three surveys this year have all shown the two candidates neck-and-neck heading into next year's election.

Each has primary opponents, but the poll did not cover other candidates in the nomination contests.

Allen used to hold that Senate seat before he was defeated by Democrat Jim Webb in the 2006 election. Webb plans to retire from the Senate at the end of the current term. Kaine, as the former governor of the state, is also popular in Virginia. The poll showed Allen and Kaine have similar favorability ratings.

The poll of 1,459 registered voters was conducted Oct. 3-9. It had a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.