DelBene edges ahead of Koster in new poll

A new poll released today by KING 5 shows Democrat Suzan DelBene slightly ahead of Republican John Koster in the battle for the open seat in the 1st Congressional District.

DelBene leads Koster 47 percent to 44 percent in the poll conducted by Survey USA for KING 5. SurveyUSA contacted 610 likely Washington voters between Oct. 19 and Oct. 21 giving the survey a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.

Last month, a SurveyUSA poll for this race had Koster leading DelBene 46 percent to 42 percent.

Reporting tpday on the new poll, Robert Mak of KING 5 wrote:

"voters give Koster a slight edge on the economy (44 percent to 41 percent), but say Delbene better reflects their views on social issues (47 percent to 39 percent). But when asked which issue is the most important in deciding a congressional race, voters overwhelmingly said the economy (52 percent vs. 25 percent for social issues)."

According to Mak, within the congressional district, President Obama leads Republican Mitt Romney but within the margin of error (48 percent to 45 percent) while Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna leads by 8 points over Democrat Jay Inslee (50 percent to 42 percent).