With Virginians going to the polls today to choose a new governor, the final Newsmax/Zogby poll shows an easy win for Democrat Terry McAuliffe.
Zogby's latest tracking numbers show that among likely voters, McAuliffe leads with 43 percent; Republican Ken Cuccinelli has 31 percent; Libertarian Robert Sarvis, 12 percent; others, 4 percent; and 11 percent undecided.
In what could be as big a story as a Democratic sweep of the Old Dominion State, the survey found Sarvis in his strongest position yet to win enough votes to guarantee his party is on the statewide ballot for the next three years.
Among those who definitely will vote, McAuliffe, former Democratic National chairman, leads with 48 percent, while Cuccinelli, the state attorney general, has 35 percent, and Sarvis has 13 percent.
The figures in both columns for Sarvis are his strongest showing to date in Zogby's polling — a break from the historical trend of third-party candidates fading in the closing days of campaigns. Sarvis needs at least 10 percent for the Libertarians to have that ballot presence for the next three years.
McAuliffe's strong showing at the campaign's close is due in part to rallying stronger support from self-described Democrats than Cuccinelli has from self-described Republicans.
Zogby found that McAuliffe has support of 85 percent of Democrats and leads independents 48 percent to 25 percent, with 24 percent for Sarvis. Among Republicans, Cuccinelli leads 72 percent to 10 percent for McAuliffe, but Sarvis draws an unusually strong 13 percent.
Zogby told Newsmax that, after an especially hard-hitting campaign, "neither major candidate can be described as 'beloved' by voters. But Cuccinelli goes into Election Day with a 36 percent favorable rating and 53 percent unfavorable. McAuliffe actually ends up with a slightly net positive of 46 percent favorable, 43 percent unfavorable. And Sarvis' ratio is 25 percent favorable to 27 percent unfavorable."
The poll surveyed 600 voters from Nov. 2-4 and has a margin of error of 4.3 points.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax.