Democratic Senator Ron Wyden is now comfortably ahead in his bid for reelection in Oregon.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state shows Wyden with 56% support, his best showing yet. Republican challenger Jim Huffman earns 36% of the vote. One percent (1%) like another candidate in the race, and seven percent (7%) are undecided.

In July, Wyden held a 51% to 35% lead over Huffman, a law professor and political activist. Prior to the new survey, Wyden, a member of the Senate since 1996, has earned 47% to 51% of the vote in surveys since May. Huffman, in those same surveys, has picked up 35% to 38% support.

Oregon remains Solid Democratic in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Senate Balance of Power rankings.

Fifty-four percent (54%) of Oregon voters regard Wyden as a liberal, while 26% describe him as a moderate. Only nine percent (9%) have no opinion of his ideology.

Huffman is viewed as conservative by 46% and moderate by 14%. But better than one-in-three voters (35%) don’t know enough about him to venture any kind of opinion about his ideological views.

Most voters (57%) in the state say Wyden’s political views are in the mainstream. Only 29% view him as extreme. However, just 31% say Huffman’s views are mainstream, and 24% say he’s extreme. But 45% aren’t sure where he stands.

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The survey of 750 Likely Voters in Oregon was conducted on August 22, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology. 

The race to be Oregon’s next governor remains wide open, with Republican Chris Dudley and Democrat John Kitzhaber tied again this month.

Thirty-five percent (35%) of Oregon voters have a Very Favorable opinion of the incumbent senator, while 21% view him Very Unfavorably. Only six percent (6%) have no opinion of Wyden.

Huffman is seen Very Favorably by 11% and Very Unfavorably by eight percent (8%). Thirty-four percent (34%) don’t know the GOP candidate well enough to offer any opinion of him.

At this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with a strong opinion more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers. 

Forty-three percent (43%) of voters in Oregon say their personal finances are good or excellent. Twenty-one percent (21%) say their own finances are poor. Twelve percent (12%) say their finances are getting better, but 54% say they’re getting worse.

Fifty-three percent (53%) approve of President Obama’s job performance, up five points from last month. Forty-seven percent (47%) disapprove. This is higher job approval than the president earns nationally in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

Rasmussen Reports has recently surveyed House races in North Dakota and South Dakota and Senate races in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois,   Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. 

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