New election results, KING 5 poll put spotlight on two Congressional races

by ROBERT MAK / KING 5 News

Posted on August 25, 2010 at 4:10 PM

New election returns and a new KING 5 poll suggest races in two congressional districts may be even closer than first thought.

If Republicans recapture these two seats, they could be in position to have the majority of the state's Congressional delegation. Democrats currently have six of the state's nine Congressional seats and plan to spend significant resources to keep it that way.

In the second Congressional district from Snohomish County north to the Canadian border, voters have sent Democrat Rick Larsen to Congress for the past ten years. On election night, Larsen was two points ahead of his Republican challenger John Koster. But as more absentee ballots were counted, the results flipped and now Koster (73,469) has a very slight lead over Larsen (73,308).

In the state's top two primary, it technically doesn't matter who's ahead as both Koster and Larsen will advance to the November general election. But if Koster keeps his lead, he would get bragging rights that he upset an incumbent Democrat. That could draw the national attention Koster would need to raise money.

Meanwhile, a new KING 5 poll in the third Congressional district, finds Republican Jaime Herrera with 54% compared to Democrat Denny Heck with 41%.

This is the southwest Washington district from Olympia to the Oregon border that has been represented for 12 years by Democrat Brian Baird. When Baird announced he was not running for re-election, the race for the open seat quickly became one of the most watched across the country. Heck is a veteran lawmaker, businessman and well-funded candidate. He faces Herrera, a rising star in the Republican party who was appointed and then won election to the state legislature.

On primary election night, Herrera split the Republican vote with two other candidates and came in second behind Heck. But the SurveyUSA poll is the first head-to-head comparison between Herrara and Heck. Despite being outspent, Herrera is leading among independents in the poll.

A lot will transpire between now and November, but it's becoming clear that these two districts have Congressional races worth watching.

Complete Crosstabs of the KING 5/SurveyUSA poll.


http://www.king5.com/community/blogs/politiking/New-election-results-KING-5-poll-put-spotlight-on-two-Congressional-races-101516409.html

Scott Rasmussen ‎86% want limits on federal government.

Just 9% Want No Limits on What Federal Government Can Do
Friday, August 06, 2010
http://tinyurl.com/RR1872

Eighty-six percent (86%) of voters nationwide say there should be “limits on what the federal government can do.” A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only nine percent (9%) believe the federal government should be allowed to do most anything in this country.

These views are overwhelming shared across virtually all partisan and demographic lines.

The only exception is America’s Political Class. By a 54% to 43% margin, the Political Class believes the federal government should be allowed to do most anything. Mainstream voters reject that view by a 94% to three percent (3%) margin.

At a July 24 Town Hall meeting, Democratic Congressman Pete Stark of California may have inadvertently articulated the Political Class view. In responding to questions about whether or not the recently passed health care law is unconstitutional, Stark said, “I think that there are very few constitutional limits that would prevent the federal government from rules that could affect your private life." In response to a follow-up, he added, "The federal government, yes, can do most anything in this country."

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on August 3-4, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

The gap between the Political Class and Mainstream voters is seen in other data as well. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of Political Class voters believe the United States is generally heading in the right direction. However, among Mainstream Voters, 84% say the country has gotten off on the wrong track.

In his new book, Scott Rasmussen says, “The gap between Americans who want to govern themselves and politicians who want to rule over them may be as big today as the gap between the colonies and England during the 18^th century.”

In Search of Self-Governance is available at Rasmussen Reports and Amazon.com.

Stark was responding to questions about a provision in the health care law that would require every American to buy or obtain health insurance. Most voters nationwide are opposed to that requirement for an individual mandate. Again there is a huge gap. While 72% of Mainstream voters oppose the health insurance mandate, 83% of the Political Class think it’s a good idea.

Most voters nationwide continue to favor repeal of the health care law.

Mark Tapscott has a good column in The Washington Examiner citing Rasmussen Reports data on the growing gulf between the Political Class and most Americans.

In his book, Rasmussen notes, “Following Barack Obama’s election, Democrats and liberals believed that voters were looking to be governed from the left side of the political center. The only question for Democrats was how far left the center had moved.

“Republicans and conservatives vehemently disagreed and claimed that the U.S. was still a center-right nation. Especially after the votes were counted in November, 2009, they debated whether Americans wanted to be governed from the center or by conservative values.

“Both perspectives are wrong. The American people don’t want to be governed from the left, the right, or the center.

“The American people want to govern themselves.

“In fact, they have been governing themselves for hundreds of years, continue to do so today, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

“That’s true regardless of whether Republicans or Democrats are running the show in Washington, DC."

Obama's Polls July 13, 2010

July 13, 2010
Complete Data and Questions on the CBS News Poll on Obama, The Economy, Health Care and Other Issues
Only 13% believe Obama's policies have helped them


July 13, 2010 6:30 PM
Support For Health Care Reform Drops
Support for Obamacare drops


July 13, 2010 6:30 PM
CBS News poll shows, with 57 percent of Americans characterizing the law as "about right" in the way it addresses the issue of illegal immigration.
Support for Arizona immigration law hits 74%


July 13, 2010 7:01 AM
Mr. Obama's approval rating on the economy has tumbled five percentage points from last month, according to a new CBS News poll, with just 40 percent of those polled expressing full confidence in his actions.
Obama's rating on economy drops


July 13, 1:24 AM
Poll by Democratic strategist James Carville:
America believes Obama is a socialist

The lustre is wearing off as people awaken to who Obama really is -- a committed socialist trying to run the greatest capitalist engine in the history of the world. Won't work!