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- Sue Minter and Phil Scott are in a dead heat, the new poll shows.
Updated at 9:01 a.m.
A new poll commissioned by Vermont Public Radio finds that the leading candidates for governor are
statistically tied.
Among likely voters surveyed over the first two weeks of October, 39 percent said they support Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Scott and 38 percent prefer Democratic former transportation secretary Sue Minter. That's within the poll's 3.9 percent margin of error.
Some 14 percent of voters remain undecided in the gubernatorial race and another 2 percent back retired Major League Baseball pitcher Bill "Spaceman" Lee of the Liberty Union Party.
The survey, which was conducted by the Castleton Polling Institute, found that the presidential race isn't even close in Vermont.
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is supported by 45 percent of likely voters, while only 17 percent plan to vote for Republican nominee Donald Trump. Libertarian Gary Johnson picked up just 4 percent and Green Party nominee Jill Stein 3 percent. Another 4 percent said they would vote for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — even though the former presidential candidate isn't on the ballot.
Aside from the gubernatorial contest, Vermont's statewide races don't appear very competitive.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who is seeking an eighth six-year term, has the support of 59 percent of likely voters, the VPR poll found, while Republican Scott Milne has just 22 percent.
In the race for lieutenant governor, Sen. David Zuckerman (P/D-Chittenden) is leading Republican former state auditor and senator Randy Brock 43 percent to 26 percent.
Chittenden County State's Attorney T.J. Donovan, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, has the backing of 54 percent of likely voters, while St. Johnsbury attorney Deb Bucknam, a Republican, has just 12 percent.
Click
here for the full results and
here for VPR's top takeaways.
This story will be updated.