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Republicans have closed gaps in Senate races across the country, but Virginia a swing state where the GOP should be more competitive has proved to be the exception, with longtime party operative Ed Gillespie failing to make headway against freshman Sen. Mark R. Warner.

Republican operatives insist they have the right candidate and that the margin will close in the coming months in an environment favorable for the GOP, but outside groups have shown scant interest in backing Mr. Gillespie, who is being outspent, is still largely unknown by voters and has yet to really dent the popular Mr. Warner.

Im the tortoise. Three yards and a cloud of dust, Mr. Gillespie said, chuckling. I know where this race is in my gut. I know how vulnerable Senator Warner has become. And his record I know that my policies resonate with the voters, and I just feel like the next 10 weeks or so are going to be very, very good.

Election analysts agree there should be an opportunity for a Republican to make the race competitive.

Quentin Kidd, a political science professor at Christopher Newport University, said polling early this year indicated a slight disconnect between Mr. Warners 63 percent approval rating and the percentage of voters who said he actually deserved re-election.

But when you put Warner and Gillespie head-to-head, [Warner] had a 20-point lead, Mr. Kidd said. I think his liability right now is that Warner is really liked and Gillespie is unknown.

Mr. Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman and senior adviser to President George W. Bush, is doing what he can to raise his visibility to the broader electorate. He has been crisscrossing the state in what his campaign dubbed the Ease the Squeeze tour and held a rally last week with Sen. John McCain of Arizona in Norfolk in hopes of boosting his standing with the states sizable military population.

Elsewhere in the country, Republicans are turning sleeper races into hot contests notably in Iowa, Michigan and New Hampshire. Even incumbent senators in deep-blue states are feeling heat. Recent polling has found leads have shrunk to single digits for Sen. Al Franken, Minnesota Democrat, and Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat.

In Virginia, though, the latest polling averages show Mr. Warner still maintains close to a 20-point lead over Mr. Gillespie. Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvis is also running.

With so many other options on the table, conservative groups have been unwilling to spend on Mr. Gillespies behalf, leaving him to fight on his own.

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Republican groups show little interest in Gillespie's Senate run in Virginia