Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears has narrowed the gap with Democrat Abigail Spanberger in the race to become the Old Dominion's next governor.

While Spanberger maintained a clear lead in the latest Roanoke College survey, her Republican opponent managed to narrow the gap to single digits, trailing with 39% support among likely voters to the Democrats' 46%.

The result marked a substantive improvement from the May iteration of the survey in which Spanberger led Earle-Sears 43% to 26%, The Hill reported.

Virginia does not permit governors to seek consecutive terms and Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the state's first GOP governor in more than a decade is widely regarded as a potential Senate or presidential candidate.

Spanberger previously represented a Virginia district in Congress and was notable among the Democratic moderates.

Conducted Aug. 11-15, the survey questioned 702 Virginia residents and has a margin of error among likely voters of +/- 4.39%.