Poll shows Merkley trailing Smith in bid for senate

A new poll shows state House Speaker Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) trailing U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Pendleton) in his bid for U.S. senate.

The survey, conducted by Rasmussen Reports, shows Smith ahead of Merkley 47 percent to 38 percent. Eight percent of respondents chose “other” and 7 percent said they were “not sure.”

It should be noted, however, that the survey was released on June 11, just one day after the Independent Party of Oregon’s candidate, John Frohmayer ended his bid.

Smith fared well in favorability ratings as well. Sixteen percent of respondents found the U.S. senator to be “very favorable,” while only 9 percent said the same for Merkley. Fourteen percent of respondents found the state House speaker “very unfavorable,” with 13 percent feeling the same way about Smith.

In addition, the survey probed the job performance of Gov. Ted Kulongoski (D). The poll asked: “How do you rate the way that Ted Kulongoski is performing his role as Governor? Excellent, good, fair, or poor?” Nine percent said excellent, 27 percent said good, 34 percent chose fair, 27 percent felt his performance was poor and four percent weren’t sure.

Five hundred likely voters were surveyed for the study. The poll had a margin of error, +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.