Senate Incumbents on Top

THE DAILY FED

Senate Incumbents on Top

Both Democratic and Republican Senate incumbents are leading in the latest polls, but several races remain close. The most endangered incumbent in the most recent polls is Senator Bob Smith, R-N.H., who is in a virtual tie with former Democratic Representative Dick Swett. Smith leads Swett 45-44 percent in a Concord Monitor poll taken Oct. 29-30. The survey of 630 likely voters has a 4 point error margin. The races in Massachusetts and North Carolina also remain close, but both incumbents lead in new polls. The latest Boston Globe/WBZ-TV survey shows Democratic Senator John Kerry leads GOP Governor William Weld 48-43 percent. The Nov. 2-3 sample of 400 likely voters has a 5 point error margin. And GOP Senator Jesse Helms continues to lead Democratic challenger Harvey Gantt, holding a 48-42 percent edge in a Winston-Salem Journal poll. That survey of 808 likely voters has a 3.5 point error margin.

Incumbents in several other states have strong leads. Senator Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., appears to be pulling away from former GOP Senator Rudy Boschwitz, leading by double digits in two polls. Wellstone leads 50-37 percent in an Oct. 29-Nov. 1 Minneapolis Star-Tribune/WCCO-TV survey of 1,007 adults. The poll has a 3.6 point error margin. Wellstone leads 48-38 percent in a St. Paul Pioneer-Press/KARE 11 poll. That Oct. 26-28 survey of 826 likely voters has a 3.5 point error margin. Senator Larry Craig, R-Idaho, is well ahead of Democrat Walter Minnick, leading 51-37 percent in a Spokane, Wash., Spokesman-Review poll. The Oct. 26-27 sample of 813 likely voters has a 3.5 point error margin. Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is up 52-42 percent over GOP Representative Jim Lightfoot, according to a Cedar Rapids Gazette/KCRG-TV polls of 818 likely voters conducted Oct. 27-29. That poll has a 3.5 point margin of error.