Washington Voters Could Replace Pro-Abortion Senator Patty Murray, Poll Shows
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 19, 2010
Olympia, WA (LifeNews.com) — Voters in Washington state are apparently open to the idea of replacing longtime pro-abortion Sen. Patty Murrary. The results of a Rasmussen Reports poll released Friday shows Washington clearly belongs in the list of 10-12 states that have the potential to put pro-life advocates in charge of the Senate.
"Washington’s Senate race looks increasingly like a referendum on incumbent Democrat Patty Murray," pollster Scott Rasmussen says.
That’s because the poll found both Republican hopefuls Dino Rossi and Clint Didier earn the support of 48 percent of voters compared with 45 percent for Murray. Less than 10% of voters in both cases prefer some other candidate in the race or are undecided.
In June, Murray and Rossi, who is pro-life, were tied as they have been in virtually every survey this year. Since the beginning of the year, Murray has earned 46% to 48% of the vote, while Rossi’s support has ranged from 46% to 49%.
Rasmussen says those numbers showing Murray falling short of 50 percent should present her campaign significant concerns.
"Incumbents that fall short of 50% at this stage of a campaign are considered potentially vulnerable, but worrisome for Murray is that this is her poorest showing of the year. She was reelected to a third term in 2004 with 55% of the vote," he said.
Last month, Murray led Didier, a former professional football player, 48% to 40%. Prior to that survey, Didier’s support had ranged from 30% to 37% since January. In the same time period, Murray earned 47% to 51% in match-ups with Didier — showing his standing has improved now.
A third Republican hopeful, businessman Paul Akers, continues to trail Murray. But in the latest survey, the incumbent leads Akers 46% to 41%, while a month ago she was ahead 48% to 38%.
Republicans will pick their candidate in an August 17 primary, but Rossi, a two-time unsuccessful candidate for governor, is still considered the favorite in the race.
Conservative writer Ed Morrissey of Hot Air gives his take on the status of the race.
"Rasmussen’s latest poll of likely voters in the Pacific Northwest shows that it doesn’t make much difference which Republican runs against Patty Murray for her Senate seat, as long as one of them does," he says.
Morrissey says Rossi has a slightly better standing than Dider to challenge Murray.
"Rossi seems to have the best internals in the long run, but Didier isn’t far behind on any of them, except for female voters. Rossi only trails Murray among women by four points (45/49), while Didier trails by nine (43/52). Both Republicans win overwhelmingly among voters under 40, with Rossi narrowly taking the 40s and coming in a virtual tie in the rest, while Didier has virtual ties in all age demos over 39 years of age," he noted about the Rasmussen poll.
"Among independents, both Republicans do well. Rossi gets a 60/29 split, while Didier gets 57/32. Both hold roughly the same amount of Republicans and Democrats, so the big partisan question is whether independents will stay on board to vote against the incumbent with either Republican," Morrissey continued.
"Even though Washington has a well-earned reputation for liberal support, the issue numbers tell a different story in 2010," he concluded.
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