One year before their likely matchup in a key 2010 Senate race, Democrat Robin Carnahan and Republican Roy Blunt are locked in a dead heat, according to a Public Policy Polling survey conducted Nov. 13-15.

Carnahan, the Missouri Secretary of State, drew 43 percent support in the poll of 763 voters. Blunt, who represents the southwestern 7th District in the U.S. House, had 42 percent.

Carnahan is running even with Blunt even though more respondents think unfavorably (38 percent) than favorably (30 percent) of the Republican. Carnahan is viewed favorably by 40 percent and unfavorably by 36 percent.

After winning re-election with ease over the past decade, Arkansas Rep. Vic Snyder may be in for the toughest race of his career, according to a Public Policy Polling survey conducted Nov. 11 through 13th.

In hypothetical matchups against three little-known Republican opponents, Democrat Snyder was in a statistical tossup, according to PPP, a Democratic firm based in North Carolina.

He led Little Rock attorney Tim Griffin 44 to 43, and polled slightly better against restaurant owner Scott Wallace, leading 44 to 42.

Olympia J. Snowe's position as the only Republican to vote for the Senate Finance Committee's health care overhaul bill (S 1796) may end up costing her support in her home state of Maine, according to a poll by Public Policy Polling conducted Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.

Almost half the Republicans surveyed (46 percent) now disapprove of her job performance, compared with 40 percent who approve of it.

Thanks to backing from Democrats (60 percent) and independents (51 percent), her overall approval rating stands at 51 percent, with 36 percent disapproving and 14 percent not sure. But her numbers among both Republicans and Democrats have declined from three weeks ago; Republicans are upset that she backed a Democratic bill, and Democrats are not pleased by her reluctance to support the government-run insurance alternative known as the "public option."

Tuesday's election for Virginia governor is looking like a landslide victory for Republican nominee Bob McDonnell, according to a pair of polls conducted Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.

A Public Policy Polling survey put McDonnell ahead of Democratic nominee Creigh Deeds by 56 percent to 42 percent. A SurveyUSA poll gave McDonnell an even larger advantage, 58 percent to 40 percent.

This pre-primary polling suggests that McDonnell could match the 58 percent vote share of Republican George Allen in 1993 or the 56 percent vote share of Republican Jim Gilmore in 1997. Regardless of McDonnell's margin of victory, he is assured of preventing Democrats from following up on the victories of Democrats Mark Warner in 2001 and Tim Kaine in 2005.

In the PPP survey, more respondents view Deeds unfavorably than favorably, and he trails McDonnell by 63 percent to 33 percent among political independents. In the SurveyUSA poll, McDonnell had a 60 percent to 35 percent lead among independents and is even winning 18 percent of self-described Democrats and 19 percent of African-American voters.

More than three in five people surveyed by PPP said that McDonnell was going to win the election, and two in three said that Deeds hadn't made a strong case for why he should be elected governor.

CQ Politics rates the Virginia governor's race as Likely Republican.

To follow the 2009 and 2010 governors' races, check out CQ Politics' election map.

Is the Virginia governor's race a done deal? A Public Policy Polling survey conducted Oct. 23-26 is the most recent poll that puts Republican Bob McDonnell ahead of Democrat Creigh Deeds by a double-digit margin one week before Virginians vote on Nov. 3.

The PPP survey of 729 likely voters puts McDonnell at 55 percent and Deeds at 40 percent. McDonnell is carrying more self-identified Republicans (94 percent) than Deeds is winning Democrats (84 percent), and McDonnell has a commanding 59 percent to 34 percent lead among political independents.

Deeds continues to be hurt by a poor public image. Just 38 percent of respondents said they viewed him favorably, compared to 56 percent who said that about McDonnell. Just one in four voters thinks that Deeds is running a "positive" campaign, vs. 59 percent who think he is waging a "negative" campaign.

Independent candidate Chris Daggett is now drawing away more likely supporters of Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine than Republican Chris Christie with a week to go in New Jersey's governor's race, according to a survey of likely voters from Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling, conducted Oct. 23-26.

Daggett, who remains perhaps the biggest wild card in the race, has been steadily cutting into Christie's support over the last month, but when PPP asked likely Daggett voters who their second choice in the race is, 44 percent said Corzine, to 32 percent for Christie. The margin of error is 3.9 percent.

Daggett also now has a negative favorability rating, 31 percent favorable to 36 percent unfavorable, the poll found. Thirty-four percent had no opinion. That is a switch from the positive 30 percent to 24 percent favorable rating he had two weeks ago. And "the climb in people rating him unfavorably has come largely among Republicans," PPP noted in its analysis, surmising that it was the result of ads run by the Republican Governor's Association against Daggett.

A second survey in recent days has Bob McDonnell seemingly pulling away from Creigh Deeds in the Nov. 3 election for Virginia governor.

A Public Policy Polling survey taken Oct. 16-19 gives Republican nominee McDonnell a 52 percent to 40 percent advantage over Democrat Deeds. PPP's survey three weeks ago had McDonnell had by just five points.

The PPP poll came on the heels of a SurveyUSA poll conducted Oct. 17-19 that pegged McDonnell's lead at 19 points. Most surveys in the past two months have given McDonnell a lead in the high single digits.

Independent Chris Daggett could be the difference in the deadlocked race for New Jersey governor, according to a poll conducted Oct. 9 to 12 by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling.

Daggett, who had a strong performance in the first debate and won the endorsement of the Newark Star-Ledger on Sunday, is polling at 13 percent among likely voters, a plurality of whom said they would otherwise lean toward Republican challenger Chris Christie. Asked who their second choice would be, 48 percent of Daggett voters said Christie, compared to 34 percent who said Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine. Eighteen percent were unsure.

All told, Christie now leads Corzine by a statistically insignificant 40 percent to 39 percent, confirming several other recent polls that show the race narrowing to a virtual tie after Christie lead all summer. Corzine trailed by nine points in the September PPP poll.

North Carolina Sen. Richard M. Burr’s approval ratings remain anemic, but he is performing better against six prospective Democratic candidates in a new survey conducted Oct. 2-4 by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling.

In the survey of 638 North Carolina voters, 36 percent approve of Burr’s job performance, compared to 35 percent who disapprove. Twenty-nine percent remain unsure about Burr, who is serving his first term in the Senate. That is slightly lower than the PPP’s results from September, when the approval-disapproval spread was 38 percent to 32 percent. The poll’s margin of error is 3.8 percent.

Virginia Republican Bob McDonnell continues to narrowly lead Democrat Creigh Deeds in the state's Nov. 3 contest for governor, aided by near-unanimous support among Republicans and an advantage among among political independents -- according to a Public Policy Polling survey conducted Sept. 25-28.

The poll of 576 likely voters gave McDonnell 48 percent and Deeds 43 percent. That result conforms with other recent surveys showing McDonnell, a former state legislator and Attorney General, with a lead that is narrower than the advantage he held over Deeds in the summer.

McDonnell holds a 14 percentage-point lead over Deeds among the crucial swing-voting constitutuency of political independents polled by PPP: 51 percent to 37 percent. That is despite the fact that the two candidates have nearly identical favorability ratings, with McDonnell is viewed favorably by 47 percent and unfavorably by 42 percent, and Deeds seen favorably by 43 percent and unfavorably by 42 percent.