Cantwell (D) 46
McGavick (R) 41

May 16, 2006--Senator Maria Cantwell (D) from Washington has been on the defensive lately. She has antagonized some of the political left with her stand on Iraq and her vote on the Alito nomination. The state's Democratic Party Chairman raised doubts about her campaign last week and her GOP opponent ran an early ad blitz.

Add it all together and Cantwell's support has fallen for the fourth consecutive month and the fifth time in the last six months. The incumbent began the new year with a fifteen percentage point lead over challenger Mike McGavick (R). Now, that lead has fallen to a mere five percentage points, 46% to 41%.

A month ago, Cantwell led 48% to 40%.

About this Poll
The telephone survey of 500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports April 4, 2006. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 4.5 percentage points at the midpoint with a 95% level of confidence