The latest Wason Center poll suggests the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is tightening in Virginia. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has pulled to within seven points of Democrat Hillary Clinton in Virginia, according to a new poll that finds more GOP voters belatedly getting on board with their party’s nominee.

Clinton leads Trump by 46 percent to 39 percent in a poll released Friday by the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University.

Trump had trailed by 12 points in a Wason Center poll released a week earlier. He had been down 15 points in yet another Wason Center poll, released Oct. 16, conducted in the immediate uproar over comments Trump had made in 2005 about groping women.

[Poll: Trump recovers slightly in Va. but still trails Clinton by double digits]

“True to form for the past several statewide elections in Virginia, Republican voters appear to be coming home late, but coming home,” Quentin Kidd, director of the Wason Center, said in a written statement. “That’s good news for Trump, and especially good news for the Republican candidates down-ballot.”

The survey suggests the race is tightening in Virginia, whose 13 electoral votes could play a critical role in the race. Yet a Quinnipiac University Poll released Thursday still had Clinton up by 12 points.

[Poll: Clinton has 12-point lead over Trump in Virginia]

Virginia was supposed to have been a critical battleground in the presidential race, having morphed from reliably red into a swing state only eight years earlier. After helping to send Lyndon Johnson to the White House in 1964, Virginia went Republican in every presidential election until 2008, when Barack Obama broke that streak. He won again in 2012. But after nail-biter races for governor in 2013 and U.S. Senate in 2014, the state was considered a toss-up heading into 2016.

Trump has trailed Clinton in polls here for months. Following reports this month that Trump was pulling out of Virginia, Trump announced a last-minute push in the state. He held a rally in Virginia Beach on Saturday and days earlier announced a $2 million TV ad buy. Many political observers — Republicans among them — have questioned the strategy, but his campaign has noted that polls underestimated GOP strength in the most recent races for governor and Senate.

[Trump confounds many Republicans with last-minute push in Virginia]

The newest Wason Center poll showing Clinton with a 46 percent to 39 percent lead surveyed 815 likely Virginia voters and was conducted Oct. 23 through Oct. 26. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

While Clinton’s support has grown slowly and steadily — she was at 39 percent in a Sept. 26 Wason poll — Trump has seen a more dramatic rise, recovering 10 points since a dip that followed the first debate. At 39 percent, he now stands at his highest point since Wason began tracking the candidates in September.

Trump is drawing more support from Republicans, 84 percent of whom now back the GOP nominee. That rise nearly closes the party loyalty gap, as 87 percent of Democrats said they back Clinton.

Independents, having moved away from Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, support Clinton 46 percent to Trump’s 39 percent.

Clinton remains strongest in heavily populated, deeply blue Northern Virginia, where 51 percent of voters back her and 34 percent support Trump.

Clinton’s support rose in Hampton Roads and in the state’s solidly Republican, rural southern and southwestern corners. Yet Trump still leads in Southside and Southwest and has made gains in other regions.

The gender gap that at one point stood at 20 percent has shrunk by half, with 46 percent of women for Clinton and 36 percent for Trump. Men are evenly split, 44 percent for Clinton and 43 percent for Trump.

“Republican women who were holding back or even considering a vote for Clinton appear to be making peace with Trump as the reality of a Clinton win sinks in,” said Rachel Bitecofer, assistant director of the Wason Center.

Millennials strongly favor Clinton 53 percent to 33 percent.

Trump holds a very strong lead among white voters, 52 percent to 32 percent, while Clinton maintains a 46 percent to 38 percent lead among white, college-educated voters. White women surged to 50 percent for Trump, up from previous high of 41 percent in other Wason polls.

Among military households, Trump leads Clinton 48 percent to 40 percent. Clinton leads in nonmilitary households, 48 percent to Trump’s 34 percent.