Republican Ken Cuccinelli is battling against Democrat Terry McAuliffe to become Virginia's next governor.
Cuccinelli trailed McAuliffe in the final polls of the race before Election Day.
National issues have framed the final leg of the race, as RealClearPolitics' Caitlin Huey-Burns reports:
The battle for Virginia governor has taken on pronounced national overtones in its final hours, with each side positing the election as a referendum on one of two issues at center stage in American politics: the implementation of the health care law and the government shutdown last month.
Since neither candidate is particularly well liked by voters, each is hoping to bring down the other with an issue that has been problematic for the opposing party.
The RealClearPolitics polling average shows Democrat Terry McAuliffe leading Republican Ken Cuccinelli by 6.7 points on Election Day, challenging the commonwealth’s three-decades-long history of electing a governor from the opposite party of the president.If McAuliffe is successful, Democrats will likely replicate his model in 2014 congressional races by pinning Republican opponents to the government shutdown and the polarizing figures behind it, primarily Sen. Ted Cruz.
Read more from RealClearPolitics here.
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