Poll: Udall, Schaffer in dead heat for Senate
Associated Press
Originally published 03:33 p.m., Oktober 4, 2007
Updated 03:33 p.m., Oktober 4, 2007
Democrat Mark Udall and Republican Bob Schaffer are in a close race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Wayne Allard in what is shaping up to be one of the top races in next year's election, according to a poll released today by pollster Floyd Ciruli.
Ciruli said there are still 14 months to go until the election, but both campaigns are working hard to get the $30 million Ciruli believes will be spent on the race before it's over.
According to Ciruli's poll, Udall has 36 percent of voter support and Schaffer 35 percent, with 9 percent hoping someone else will join the race and 21 percent undecided.
The poll, taken in mid-September, had a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points. It was part of a telephone survey of 504 voters statewide on economic development sponsored by the Economic Development Council of Colorado.
Ciruli said Schaffer is attracting a lower percentage of voters from Republicans, Democrats and the unaffiliated, but there are 130,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats, keeping Schaffer competitive.
"It's still very early in the campaign, but Schaffer's challenge will be to unify his party and attract more unaffiliated voters as the public begins to make up its mind," Ciruli said.
The poll showed Udall with 72 percent support from his own party, 6 percent from Republicans and 34 percent from the unaffiliated, while Schaffer got 68 percent support from his own party, 3 percent from Democrats and 19 percent unaffiliated.
Udall has an 11-point advantage among women and Schaffer leads by 8 points among men.
Walt Klein, Schaffer's top campaign consultant, said Udall and fellow Democrats became "arrogant" after Democrats took a U.S.
Senate seat two years ago and the governor's office away from Republicans and believe the U.S. Senate race this year is theirs to lose.
Klein said the wins by Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar and Gov. Bill Ritter were different, because neither candidate had a record.
Klein said it's different between Udall, a five-term congressman, and Schaffer, who served three terms in Congress.
Klein said the poll shows Colorado is still a swing state.
"It's like a cold bucket of water in the faces of Democrats.
This state has not turned blue. It's still purple," he said.
Mike Melanson, Udall's campaign manager, said Schaffer is having trouble with his Republican base because he opposed Referendum C, a measure approved by voters to shore up the state budget and had support from many Republicans, including business leaders.
Melanson said this Senate race will be one of the top races in the nation, and no one is taking it for granted.
Schaffer's campaign said it raised $717,000 during the second quarter after getting a late start and has not filed a report for the third quarter. Udall, who began raising money in the first quarter, has raised $3.8 million, including $1.5 million transferred over from his congressional campaign fund.
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/oct/04/poll-udall-schaffer-dead-heat-senate/
