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RICHMOND -- Democrat Mark Warner maintains a commanding lead over Republican Jim Gilmore in the closing days of their race for the U.S. Senate, according to a new poll conducted for The Roanoke Times by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research.

Warner leads Gilmore by 25 percentage points and has the support of a majority of voters in every region of the state. Warner is favored by 58 percent of the voters statewide and his strongest support is in Southwest Virginia, where 66 percent back Warner and only 26 percent favor Gilmore.

The two former governors are competing for the seat held by Republican John Warner, who is retiring after 30 years in the Senate. Mark Warner is not related to the incumbent senator.

The new poll results come from a telephone survey of 625 registered voters conducted Monday and Tuesday. The poll has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Warner's lead is similar to the one he held in a Mason-Dixon poll released earlier this month before the Senate candidates held a televised debate in Roanoke.

"Governor Warner certainly appreciates the broad, bipartisan support and will continue working extremely hard through Election Day for the privilege of representing Virginians in the Senate," spokesman Kevin Hall said.

Warner has a solid lead over Gilmore with independent voters, and 27 percent of Republican voters said they will back Warner in the Nov. 4 election. With the Mason-Dixon poll indicating that the presidential race is a statistical dead heat, Gilmore is appealing for the support of voters who back Republican presidential candidate John McCain. "We just want to remind those folks who have said unreservedly that they are voting for Senator McCain that a vote for Mark Warner is a vote for Barack Obama," Gilmore spokeswoman Ana Gamonal said.

"They shouldn't believe for a moment that Mark Warner will work with John McCain," Gamonal said. "He will work with Harry Reid, Jim Webb and Nancy Pelosi."

Warner campaigned with Obama on Wednesday, but he also has emphasized the support he has received from current and former Republican officeholders. Warner left the governor's office in 2006 with high approval ratings and the poll suggests that he remains popular throughout the state. His favorable name recognition stands at 61 percent, compared with 29 percent for Gilmore.

Warner campaigned in Blacksburg on Thursday, and Gilmore plans a major swing through Southwest Virginia next week.

On Thursday, Gilmore signed the American Conservative Union's "energy freedom pledge," affirming his opposition to a national ban on offshore oil drilling and his support for increased production of domestic energy sources.

"During these tough economic times, never has America's need to tap into its vast resources of oil and natural gas been clearer," Gilmore said in a news release. "Doing so would not only set the course for energy independence, but would create thousands of jobs right here in the U.S and in Virginia."