Democratic challenger Webb pulls ahead of GOP Senator Allen by one point in latest Zogby poll

RAW STORY
Published: Sunday August 27, 2006

Democratic challenger James Webb, former Navy secretary under President Reagan, has pulled ahead of Virginia's Republican Senator Allen by one percentage point in the latest Zogby poll, RAW STORY has learned.

The poll also puts Democrats in front for 14 out of the open 19 gubernatorial races. But the Democratic Party only leads 12 of the 18 Senate races, which wouldn't be enough to regain the majority even accounting for Vermont's independent Senator Jim Jeffords and Connecticut's Joe Lieberman who Zogby shows leading primary winner Ned Lamont by ten points.

"The race in Virginia saw a significant turnaround: Democratic challenger James Webb inched to a one percentage point lead over incumbent Senator George Allen, who was ahead eleven percentage points in the July Zogby poll," reports the Wall Street Journal website.

"Mr. Allen was swept up in controversy earlier this month over comments he made about a Democratic campaign worker.

According to the latest polling by Rasmussen Reports, Republican Virginia Senator George Allen's lead has shrunk six points since before he referred to a young man of Indian descent working for his opponent Democratic challenger James Webb as "macaca."

"Senator George Allen's alleged slur of an opposition campaign worker of Indian descent, recorded on video, has provoked a furious controversy in the state," reported Rasmussen. "In the wake of the controversy, support for Allen has dipped below the 50% mark for the first time this year."

Allen now only leads Webb 47% to 42% in Rasmussen's poll, six points less since the last poll in July.

Excerpts from the WSJ pdf accompanying its article:

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Democrats lead in most of 19 hotly contested gubernatorial races, including seven now held by Republican incumbents. Among battleground states included in the latest Zogby Interactive poll, Democratic candidates were ahead in 14 races, while Republicans led in four and one race yielded mixed results.

Taking into account governorships that aren't up for re-election and those that weren't included in the battleground polling because the incumbent party is widely expected to remain in power, the Democrats would hold 29 governorships and Republicans 20, if the results on Election Day match the latest polling. That breakdown in power in the nation's governorships would mark a reversal from the current balance of power [GOP 28 - Dems 22].

Democrats picked up ground in a new set of polls of hotly contested Senate races, but Republicans remain on course to retain control of the chamber. The latest Zogby Interactive polls, conducted Aug. 15-21 in cooperation with The Wall Street Journal Online, show Democrats ahead in 12 of the 18 states polled, while Republicans lead in five.

In Connecticut, Mr. Lieberman, who has remained in the race as an independent, led Democratic nominee Ned Lamont by 10 percentage points in the Zogby poll, while Republican nominee Alan Schlesinger would receive just 2% of the vote if the election were held today. Although Republicans are ahead in fewer of the battlegrounds than Democrats, the party would still maintain control of the 100-seat Senate if the election results match Zogby's results. Taking into account the 40 Republican seats not up for re-election and seven that weren't included in the polling because Republicans are expected to win handily, Republicans would retain a 52-46 majority in the Senate, though Mr. Lieberman and another independent, Jim Jeffords of Vermont, would be expected to vote frequently with the Democrats.

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(A RAW STORY reader sent in the tip about the new Zogby poll)