Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Almost half the Democratic voters in Virginia and Tennessee favor John Kerry to be their presidential nominee, according to new polls that show the Massachusetts senator solidifying his front-runner status.

Kerry is the top pick of 47 percent of those polled in Virginia and 45 percent of those polled in Tennessee, according to Reuters/Zogby/MSNBC polls taken Saturday and Sunday. Both states hold primaries tomorrow.

Kerry has won 10 of 12 nomination contests across the U.S., including caucuses over the weekend in Michigan, Washington and Maine. Tomorrow's primaries will test Kerry's appeal in the South against two southerners, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina and Retired General Wesley Clark of Arkansas.

Kerry's support ``is wide and deep,'' pollster John Zogby said in a statement. ``He has shown that he can hold all strands of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents together.''

Zogby said the principal factor in Kerry's rise is the perception among Democratic voters that he has the best chance to defeat President George W. Bush in November.

The new polls show Edwards is Kerry's closest rival in Virginia, with 24 percent support of those polled. Clark got 11 percent, and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean 10 percent.

In Tennessee, Edwards had the support of 21 percent of those polled, compared with 19 percent for Clark and 5 percent for Dean. Only Edwards, who won in South Carolina, and Clark, who triumphed in Oklahoma, have defeated Kerry so far in the 2004 campaign.

Zogby International conducted telephone surveys of 600 likely primary voters in Tennessee and 500 likely primary voters in Virginia. The Tennessee poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. The error margin for the Virginia poll is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

To contact the reporter on this story: Laurence Arnold in Washington at larnold4@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 9, 2004 10:09 EST