Poll Shows Competitive Presidential Contest in Virginia May 3, 2012, 8:29 pm Barack Obama won Virginia four years ago, the first time a Democrat had won the state in more than 40 years. This year, it looks like Mr. Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, may have a competitive contest for the state's 13 electoral votes. Mr. Obama is backed by 51 percent of voters surveyed by The Washington Post from Saturday to Wednesday, and Mr. Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, is the choice of 44 percent. Mr. Obama's seven percentage-point advantage is within the poll's four percentage-point margin of sampling error for each candidate. Voters who helped Mr. Obama win Virginia in 2008 - women, blacks, suburban Washingtonians and young voters - continue to support the president. He is backed by almost all of the black voters surveyed by The Post, and he has a wide lead among women. While voters younger than 30 continue to give him a majority of their support, many are not currently registered to vote. Adding the state's governor, Bob McDonnell, to the Republican ticket would not improve Mr. Romney's prospects, according to the poll. About two-thirds of the voters said Mr. McDonnell as the vice presidential nominee would make no difference in their choice come November. Eleven percent said Mr. McDonnell as the running mate would make them more inclined to vote Republican; 19 percent said his selection would drive them toward the Democrats. The statewide survey was conducted from April 28 to May 2 with 964 registered voters using landlines and cellphones, and it has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points.