| Washington Senate 2006: Cantwell Has Solid Lead | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Survey of 500 Likely Voters August 14, 2005
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August 17, 2005--Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell is considered one of the few potentially vulnerable incumbents for the Election 2006 cycle. However, the latest Rasmussen Reports survey shows Cantwell with a solid lead over two potential challengers. Cantwell leads Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance by 25 percentage points--57% to 32%. She also leads former Congressman Rick White by 23 points--56% to 33%. Cantwell's prospects have improved since Dino Rossi indicated he will stay out of the Senate race in 2006. Rossi was nearly elected Governor last November before a controversial recount determined that Christine Gregoire won the closest election in state history. A survey conducted earlier this year found Rossi holding a slight lead in a hypothetical match-up with Cantwell. Cantwell also benefits from the fact that President Bush's Approval Rating has dipped to 39% in the state of Washington. Just 25% believe the country is headed in the right direction. Cantwell holds large leads among both men and women. She also leads both Republican challengers in all age groups, although the GOP is competitive among 30-somethings. Cantwell is viewed favorably by 57% of Washington voters and unfavorably by 36%. For Vance, the numbers are 30% favorable, 41% unfavorable. Rick White is viewed favorably by 34% and unfavorably by 37%. Governor Christine Gregoire is viewed favorably by 51%. Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information. Rasmussen Reports was the nation's most accurate polling firm during the Presidential election and the only one to project both Bush and Kerry's vote total within half a percentage point of the actual outcome. During Election 2004, RasmussenReports.com was also the top-ranked public opinion research site on the web. We had twice as many visitors as our nearest competitor and nearly as many as all competitors combined. Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade. To keep up with our latest releases, be sure to visit the Rasmussen Reports Home Page.
The telephone survey of 500 Likely Voters was conducted by Rasmussen Reports July 18, 2005. The margin of sampling error for the survey is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence (see Methodology) |
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