New Mexico’s race for the U.S. Senate is the closest it’s ever been this month. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds Democrat Tom Udall leading Republican Steve Pearce 51% to 44%.
Last month, Pearce pulled within 10 percentage points of his opponent, whom he trailed by double-digits in each survey since April. Udall and Pearce are seeking to replace retiring Senator Pete Domenici, a Republican who has been in the Senate since 1973. Both candidates chose to leave the U.S. House of Representatives to compete for the open seat.
A big change in the race this month came from unaffiliated voters. Pearce now leads 50% to 38% among those voters. Last month, Udall had a 48% to 39% lead. While Udall leads 54% to 40% among women in New Mexico, Pearce has a statistically insignificant 48% to 47% lead among men.
Favorability ratings for Udall have slipped only slightly over the past month. The Democrat is viewed favorably by 57%, down from 59% in August, and unfavorably by 35%, up from 34%. The Republican’s numbers also have slipped this month. Pearce’s ratings are 45% favorable, down from 53% last month, and 46% unfavorable, up from 39% a month ago.
Rasmussen Reports released five swing state polls on the Presidential race Monday night for Colorado,Florida,Ohio,Pennsylvania and Virginia. Yesterday, the latest numbers for the Montana presidential and Senate races were released. Additional state poll results will be released each Monday at 6:00 p.m. Eastern and Tuesday-Friday at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.
Governor Bill Richardson earns good or excellent ratings from 45% of voters in New Mexico, while 29% say he is doing a poor job. Those ratings have slipped slightly since last month.
In New Mexico’s presidential race, John McCain has pulled ahead of Barack Obama in the first poll since the candidates’ conventions.
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This telephone survey of 700 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports September 8, 2008. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
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New Mexico Trends: Udall vs. Pearce |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Date |
Udall |
Pearce |
|
10/28/2008 |
56% |
41% |
|
57% |
37% |
|
|
55% |
41% |
|
|
51% |
44% |
|
|
51% |
41% |
|
|
59% |
34% |
|
|
58% |
30% |
|
|
53% |
37% |
|
|
54% |
40% |
|
|
Favorable Ratings for Senate Candidates in New Mexico |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Pearce |
Udall |
|
|
Very Favorable |
27% |
38% |
|
Somewhat Favorable |
22% |
20% |
|
Somewhat Unfavorable |
20% |
16% |
|
Very Unfavorable |
27% |
24% |
|
Not Sure |
4% |
3% |
Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.
The Rasmussen Reports ElectionEdge™ Premium Service for Election 2008 offers the most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a Presidential election.
Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.
