New Poll: Murray and Rossi tied

Incumbent Democrat Patty Murray and Republican challenger Dino Rossi are tied in Washington’s U.S. Senate race, according to the latest Rasmussen poll.

The survey finds 47 percent of voters support Murray and 47 percent support Rossi. About six percent support someone else or are undecided. One month ago, a similar Rasmussen poll had Murray with 48 percent of the vote, while Rossi was still at 47 percent.

Male voters favor the GOP candidates; female voters prefer Murray. Voters not affiliated with either major party give Rossi a slight edge over Murray. Against other Republicans in the race, Murray has a narrow lead.

The survey also asked registered voters about the Tea Party movement:

• 20 percent of Washington voters consider themselves members of the Tea Party movement, compared to 16 percent nationally. 62 percent say they are not members, and another 18 percent are not sure.
• 43 percent of the state’s voters view the Tea Party movement as good for the country, slightly below voter sentiments nationally, while 32 percent say it’s bad for America.

This was a telephone survey of 500 likely voters in our state, with a margin of error of plus/minus 4.5 points.