Democrats' Murray Posts Weak Numbers in Washington Senate Race

Three-term Democratic Sen. Patty Murray is looking vulnerable in her bid for re-election, with former gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi leading her by 10 points and three lesser-known candidates all within margin-of-error range of her, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted April 19-22.

Rossi, a businessman and former state senator who lost the closest governor's race in U.S. history in 2004, leads Murray 52 percent to 42 percent with 7 percent undecided. He has the support of 87 percent of fellow Republicans while Murray is backed by 73 percent of Democrats. Rossi leads among independents (39 percent of the sample) by 58 percent to 38 percent with 4 percent undecided. While Rossi claims a big majority of conservatives, as does Murray with liberals, the two run almost evenly among moderates (43 percent of the sample).

Rossi has not yet made up his mind about jumping into the race. The filing deadline is June 11, and the GOP primary is August 17.

SurveyUSA also tested these three match-ups:

- Murray leads state Sen. Don Benton 46 percent to 44 percent with 10 percent undecided. (The pol's margin of error is 4.4 points).

- She leads former NFL tight end Clint Didier, who has become involved in the Tea Party movement, 46 percent to 44 percent with 10 percent undecided.

- She leads Chris Widener, founder of the personal development company Made for Success, by 45 percent to 43 percent with 12 percent undecided.

Benton, Didier and Widener don't poll as high as Rossi among Republicans or enjoy as big a lead over Murray with independents.

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