“With just three weeks remaining before the election, Republican leaders in Virginia fear that their nominee, Ken Cuccinelli II, is on his way to losing the governor’s race and that the party will squander command of a state that is key to their quest to dominate next year’s midterm elections and the 2016 presidential race,” the Washington Post reports.

Said former Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA): “It’s a party that is disunited, in flux, in transition and defeated. We have nominated a ticket that Virginians don’t want to buy.”

Ken Cuccinelli (R) released a brutal ad attacking Terry McAuliffe (D) in an increasingly nasty Virginia governor’s race.

[Read more…]

A new UMass Lowell poll in Boston finds John Connolly leads Marty Walsh by a margin of 45% to 37% among likely voters in the race for mayor.

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC New York poll in New York City finds Bill de Blasio (D) way ahead of Joe Lhota (R) in the race for mayor, 67% to 23%.

“You may not be able to swim in that river, but it’s probably, I think, because of all the bodies floating around of shooting victims in your city.”

— New Jersey Senate candidate Steve Lonegan (R), quoted ny the Newark Star Ledger, in a very nasty debate with Cory Booker (D).

Ken Cuccinelli (R) “is getting crushed on the Virginia airwaves, and it’s probably only going to get worse – a major factor thwarting the Republican’s hopes of a comeback in a governor’s race that’s been slipping away,” Politico reports.

With nearly all polls showing him considerably behind Terry McAuliffe (D), “the result is that Cuccinelli’s campaign has been making smaller and smaller ad buys over the past three weeks. He spent $1.2 million on broadcast in the final week of September, $716,000 last week and reserved $685,000 for this week.”

A new Quinnipiac poll finds McAuliffe leading 47% to 39%, with Libertarian Robert Sarvis at 8%.

A new Quinnipiac poll in New Jersey finds Gov. Chris Christie (R) leading challenger Barbara Buono (D) by a whopping 62% to 33% in the race for governor.

A new Stockton Polling Institute poll in New Jersey finds Cory Booker (D) leading Steve Lonegan (R) in the U.S. Senate race by 11 points, 50% to 39%.

Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli (R) told WJLA that he doesn’t think Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is having a negative impact on his campaign.

Said Cuccinelli: “I don’t think he’s dragging me down. He’s a Texas senator. . .(so) it doesn’t have a whole lot of resonance in my race.”

Cuccinelli avoided a photo op with Cruz last weekend.

A new Roanoke College poll in Virgina shows Terry McAuliffe (D) with a six point lead over Ken Cuccinelli (R) among likely, 40% to 34%, with Libertarian Robert Sarvis at 9% and 16% still undecided.

A new Quinnipiac poll in New Jersey finds Cory Booker (D) leading Steve Lonegan (R) by 12 points in the U.S. Senate race, 53% to 41%.

Said pollster Maurice Carroll: “It’s still not the predicted blow-out, but with a week to go, Newark Mayor Cory Booker hangs on to a nice, if not exactly comfortable, double-digit lead.”

A new Boston Herald/Suffolk University poll in Boston shows John Connolly leading Martin Walsh among likely voters in the race for mayor, 41% to 34%, with 23% still undecided.

A new Wason Center poll in Virginia finds Terry McAuliffe (D) leading Ken Cuccinelli (R) by nine points among likely voters in the race for governor, 47% to 38%, with Robert Sarvis at 8%.

Said pollster Quentin Kidd: “In the closing weeks of the election, I would expect the Cuccinelli campaign to try to
convince those moderate Republicans and women to take a second look. For McAuliffe, the closing weeks are likely to be about solidifying his position and making sure his supporters turn out on Election Day, especially African-American voters.”

A new Politico poll in Virginia finds Terry McAuliffe (D) leading Ken Cuccinelli (R) in the race for governor by 10 points, 52% to 42%.

In a three way race, McAuliffe leads by 9 points, with Libertarian nominee Robert Sarvis at 12%.

Cory Booker’s (D) Senate campaign — “at times sputtering, unfocused and entangled in seemingly frivolous skirmishes over Twitter messages involving a stripper — has unnerved his supporters, who thought that a robust and unblemished victory over his Republican opponent, Steve Lonegan, would catapult him onto the national stage,” the New York Times reports.

“As his allies move to shore up what was supposed to be a painless path to Congress, the biggest and wealthiest of them, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, will start spending more than $1 million on Monday to broadcast television commercials on Mr. Booker’s behalf, a vast sum to pour into a single candidacy.”

“In the clearest sign yet of the potent effect of the government shutdown on the Virginia governor’s race, Republican Ken Cuccinelli avoided being photographed with Ted Cruz at a gala they headlined here Saturday night–even leaving before the Texas senator rose to speak,” Politico reports.

“Cruz has become the face of GOP intransigence, and the conservative attorney general’s effort to distance himself from congressional Republicans reflects how damaging Cuccinelli realizes a prolonged shutdown may be for his campaign.”

A new Emerson College poll in Virgina finds Terry McAuliffe (D) leading Ken Cuccinelli (R) in the race for governor, 43% to 38%, with Robrt Sarvis (L) at 11%.

A new University of Mary Washington poll finds McAuliffe leading 42% to 35%.

A new Hampton University poll has McAuliffe up 43% to 38% with Sarvis at 11%.

A new New York Times/Siena poll in New York City finds Bill de Blasio (D) with a commanding lead over Joseph Lhota (R), 68% to 19%, among likely voters.

“The race is not over: the two men have agreed to televised debates on three successive Tuesdays this month, and those exchanges, as well as the television ads, will introduce the candidates to New Yorkers who have not yet tuned in.”

“But the poll found extraordinarily daunting odds against Mr. Lhota, a former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Mr. de Blasio’s lead cut across just about every category: he led among voters regardless of age, race, gender, and income and education level. Registered Republicans made up the only group in which a majority backed Mr. Lhota.”