Two new polls released Wednesday showed former Gov. Tim Kaine (D) had a lead outside of the margin of error in his campaign against former Gov. George Allen (R) for Virginia’s open Senate seat.

A new Washington Post poll showed 51 percent of likely voters said they supported Kaine, while 43 percent backed his Republican rival. The economy was the dominant issue on respondents’ minds.

Both men have left favorable impressions on registered voters, each topping 50 percent in their favorability ratings.

Thirty-two percent of registered voter respondents identified themselves as Democrats, while 24 percent stated they were Republican. Thirty-five percent were independent.

A Quinnipiac/New York Times/CBS poll, also released Wednesday, showed almost the exact same results in Virginia. In that poll, Kaine led Allen 51 percent to 44 percent.

Interestingly, one of the polls’ first critics was Kaine campaign manager Mike Henry.

“As one of our biggest supporters, I want to be honest with you. We don’t believe them,” he wrote in an email soliciting donations from supporters.

“Don’t get me wrong. We’ve always believed that once we were on the air communicating Tim’s positive vision, our message would resonate,” he added. “But the truth is that since the beginning, this campaign has been a dead heat — and every indication is that it’s going to be close until the end.”

In that poll, 1,474 likely voters were surveyed and the poll had a margin of error of 2.6 points. The Washington Post poll was a telephone survey conducted Sept. 12-16. A total of 1,104 adults were surveyed, while 934 registered voters and 847 likely voters were included in the poll. Among the registered and likely voters, the margin of error was 4 points.

Roll Call rates this race as Tossup.