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A new poll shows Republican presidential candidate John McCain with a slight lead over Democrat Barack Obama in West Virginia.

A second poll by the same group also shows that Margaret Workman has a sizeable lead in the race for West Virginia Supreme Court, but the other two candidates are in a neck-and-neck contest for the second Supreme Court seat that’s up for grabs.

McCain is ahead of Obama in West Virginia by five points, according to Charleston pollster Mark Blankenship.

It’s 44% for McCain, 39% for Obama, with the rest undecided.

Most national pundits are saying the state is a safe bet for McCain, after going for President Bush twice and rejecting Obama in the May primary by a huge margin.

But Blankenship says he actually expected the race to be closer.

"Today in mid-September, in a state where Democrats out-register Republicans two-to-one, for a Republican to maintain an advantage at this point is what surprised me the most," he said. "I thought it was going to be more like the national polls that are out there, which showed a statistical dead heat."

In the poll, Republicans are breaking heavily for McCain, and he also has an edge with independent voters. A slim majority of Democrats say they support Obama – which is better than he performed in the primary, but still bad news for his chances in West Virginia, Blankenship says.

"If you remember in the primary, he had a very paltry showing versus Hillary Clinton. Today, 55% of Democrats say they will vote for Obama," he said. "The flip side of that coin is that 45% of Democrats say they are either going to vote for McCain, or they’re undecided. These Democrats have been exposed to Obama’s messages, to his campaign, and still yet, they’re undecided," he said.

Blankenship said his group received no money from any political or outside group to conduct the poll. The presidential poll was taken shortly after the GOP convention ended last week. National polls have showed a considerable bounce for McCain after that convention.

In another poll, former Justice Margaret Workman is well ahead of her opponents in a three-way race for two open seats on the West Virginia Supreme Court.

Workman received support from 42% of voters. Democrat Menis Ketchum, a lawyer from Cabell County, received 23%, and Republican lawyer Beth Walker of Charleston got 21%, with 28% undecided.

Because of the polls margin of error, that means Ketchum and Walker are essentially tied.

The poll also shows Attorney General Darrell McGraw ahead of his challenger, Republican Dan Greear of Kanawha County – 49% McGraw, 32% Greear, and 19% undecided. Blankenship says that Greear will have to flip some of McGraw’s supporters and get the lion’s share of undecided voters if he wants to knock off the long-time incumbent.

By Scott Finn

Source: wvpubcast.org