Today offers another batch of polling and punditry to sort through on who will win the U.S. Senate race between Democrat Patty Murray and Republican Dino Rossi.
Charlie Cook, author of the highly respected Cook Political Report, writes in today’s National Journal online that Murray will hold her seat.
“The Cook Political Report is adjusting its current outlook to reflect a net gain for Republicans of 6 to 8 seats, down from 7 to 9 seats. While it is becoming increasingly likely that Republicans will hold all 18 of its own seats, Democrats’ prospects in three of their 19 seats have improved in recent days. Sens. Barbara Boxer in California and Patty Murray in Washington now appear to be headed for re-election, albeit by small margins.”
But the Washington State Republican Party is passing around details of a new Public Policy Polling survey showing Rossi leading Murray among those who’ve already returned their ballots.
“Every time PPP has polled the Washington Senate race this year it’s
found the race to be within 2 or 3 points and our final poll there is no exception. But
there is one twist- for the first time we find Dino Rossi leading Patty Murray, by a 50-48 margin.
The most worrisome number for Murray within the poll, beyond her small overall
disadvantage, is that among voters who say they’ve already returned their ballots Rossi’s advantage is wider at 52-47. Murray’s ability to keep the race close is predicated on the 24% of respondents who have not yet done so returning their ballots. That group supports her by a 51-45 margin.”
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