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Less than two months before Election Day, Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., maintains a substantial lead over Republican challenger Ed Gillespie, according to a new poll.

Warner leads the former National Republican Committee chairman, 53 percent to 31 percent among likely voters, according to the post-Labor Day poll conducted by the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University.

Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvis receives 5 percent of the vote, with 11 percent of voters undecided in the poll.

Warner has a more than 2-1 edge over Gillespie among independent voters (48 percent to 23 percent), and has the support of nine out of 10 Democrats, while Gillespie gets votes from eight of 10 Republicans.

The poll is significant in that it shows Warner winning more than 50 percent of the vote, giving the one-term senator and former governor much more breathing room than fellow Senate Democrats who are locked in pitched battles and in danger of losing control of the chamber.

“Mark Warner’s position surely makes him the envy of all of those incumbent Democrats who are in trouble across the country,” said Quentin Kidd, director of the Wason Center.