South Dakota House: Herseth-Sandlin (D) 47%, Noem 45%
After leading since June, Republican challenger Kristi Noem has fallen behind incumbent Democrat Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin in the race for South Dakota's only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely South Dakota Voters shows Herseth-Sandlin with 47% support to Noem's 45%. Four percent (4%) like some other candidate in the race, and three percent (3%) are undecided.
A month ago, Noem held a 51% to 42% advantage over Herseth-Sandlin, who has been a member of Congress since 2004.
Herseth-Sandlin has been running ads noting that she was one of the few Democrats who voted against President Obama's health care bill, which is highly unpopular in South Dakota. Noem, meanwhile, has been battling the recent disclosure of a questionable driving record. Herseth-Sandlin was elected to Congress following the resignation of GOP Congressman Bill Janklow who was convicted of manslaughter after he killed a motorcyclist while running a stop sign at high speed.
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This statewide telephone survey of 500 Likely Voters in South Dakota was conducted on September 8, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/-4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
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