After a long and nasty campaign that has broken the record of the most expensive campaign in the state, the Virginia governor's race all boils down to Election Day and voter turnout.
The whole nation has been watching the governor race in Virginia between Terry McAuliffe, a well-known Democrat, and Ken Cuccinelli, a Tea Party-back Republican.
The Washington Post reports that turnout was steady and even heavier than usual in Northern Virginia Tuesday morning. There were some minor glitches in a few precincts within Loudoun and Fairfax counties, however, election officials said most problems were quickly resolved and that voting continued to run smoothly.
The latest polls revealed that McAuliffe managed to uphold a small, but consistent lead over Cuccinelli, a former attorney general. A Quinnipiac poll released on Monday showed McAuliffe leading Cuccinelli with a 46 to 40 percent lead, a smaller margin than an Oct. 23 survey, where he was up 46 to 39 percent.
Despite McAuliffe's persistent lead, there's still a small chance that the race could be upended if Democratic turnout is extremely low and Tea Party supporters show up in unexpected high numbers.
Throughout the gubernatorial race, both candidates have used high-profile political party leaders to attract voters. Cuccinelli campaigned with Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Gov. Scott Walker, R- Wis., and former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, reports CBS News. While McAuliffe got aid from Bill and Hillary Clinton along with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
However, the state capital's flagship newspaper opted not to endorse either Ken Cuccinelli or McAuliffe. In an opinion piece titled "Our choice for governor in 2013: None of the above," the Richmond Times-Dispatch said it could not "in good conscience endorse a candidate for governor."
The Times-Dispatch went on to criticized Cuccinelli, the state's attorney general, for his stances on social issues, specifically citing his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage. "[Cuccinelli] pursues his divisive agenda with a stridency that was unbecoming in an attorney general and would be unbecoming in a governor," the paper wrote.