In the race to fill the Senate seat now held by departing Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R), support for Republican nominees is improving as support for Representative Harold Ford, the likely Democratic nominee, weakens.

Of the Republican candidates, Representative Ed Bryant fares best against Ford, leading 45% to 36%. In January, the Rasmussen Reports Tennessee election poll showed Bryant leading 42% to 40%.

Representative Van Hilleary leads Ford 43% to 35%. Support for Hilleary is unchanged since January, but Ford was then at 37%.

Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker leads Ford 39% to 35%. Support for both Corker and Ford has declined since January. With both men below 40% and a quarter of the voters undecided, it's hard to say either candidate is ahead in this match-up.

Respondents unaffiliated with either major party favor the Republican candidates by roughly two-to-one margins. But moderates prefer Ford over the Republicans by about the same large margins.

Ford is viewed favorably by 47%, about the same as shown by our last poll. Bryant is viewed favorably by 44%, a slight decline. Corker is viewed favorably by 38%, a six-point decline. The number of voters who view Hilleary favorably is unchanged at 51%.

Ford enjoys the second-highest favorable rating of the four candidates in our poll. But he also has the highest unfavorable rating.

Thirteen percent (13%) of Tennessee voters say they know family members or friends who will vote against Ford because of his race. Ford is black. Eighty-two percent (82%) say they don't know anybody with that attitude. Democrats (17%) are slightly more likely than Republicans (12%) to say they know someone in this category.

It is difficult to get an accurate reading on why people cast their votes, especially on a sensitive topic like race. If we had asked survey respondents if they themselves would vote against Ford because of his race, a much smaller number would have been likely to say yes.

As an example of this, last year, we asked people if they would be willing to vote for a qualified woman for President. Seventy-two percent (72%) said yes. However, only 49% said their family and friends would be willing to vote for a woman.

Among the Tennessee voters who know people likeley to vote against Ford because of his race, most prefer Ford in each match-up.

Visit our Election Polls page to see a summary of our latest state-by state polling. Rasmussen Reports is polling every Senate and Governors' race at least once a month this year.

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