Democrat Hickenlooper Edges Past Republican McInnis in Colorado Governor Race

Denver's Democratic mayor, John Hickenlooper, has edged ahead of former Republican Rep. Scott McInnis in the race to fill the seat of Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter who decided not to seek re-election, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted Feb. 4

Hickenlooper leads by 49 percent to 45 percent with 1 percent preferring someone else and 6 percent undecided. The margin of error is 4.5 points. In early January, McInnis led by 45 percent to 42 percent.

Ritter's decision to retire and Hickenlooper's to jump into the race clearly improved Democratic chances since in the previous poll, McInnis led Ritter by 8 points.

Both Hickenlooper and McInnis are in positive territory in terms of being seen favorably, but the 19 percent who answered "not sure" on McInnis, compared to Hickenlooper's 8 percent, shows him being less well-known at this early stage of the campaign.

Hickenlooper right now has a higher level of support (91 percent) among fellow Democrats than McInnis does among Republicans (80 percent). McCinnis has a slight lead among unaffiliated voters.

McInniss draws 80 percent support from self-described conservatives while Hickenlooper gets 89 percent from liberals. But Hickenlooper has a big 66 percent to 26 percent lead among moderates.

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