Latest Poll Shows Herseth Leading

keloland ^ | 10/10/02

[Gunder]

Stephanie Herseth is no longer the underdog. In fact, the newcomer candidate holds a slight edge over political powerhouse, Governor Bill Janklow in the race for South Dakota's seat in the U.S. House.

It's the second KELOLAND News Election poll in which Herseth's held a slight lead. When the KELOLAND News Election poll showed registered South Dakota voters favored Herseth in August, the Janklow campaign said the Governor hadn't hit the campaign trail yet.

Now with less than four weeks until the election, our exclusive poll shows Janklow still hasn't made up any ground. When Governor Bill Janklow entered the race for the open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, many political pundits considered him a heavy favorite over any Democrat candidate. But they apparently forgot to tell newcomer Stephanie Herseth.

According to the latest KELOLAND News Election poll, if the election was held during last week's survey, 45 percent of the registered voters would pick Herseth. 41 percent would vote for Janklow.

That's virtually unchanged from our August poll, which had Herseth leading by three percent.

Herseth says, "We're going to keep running like we're four or five points down, as we've done from the very beginning, both in the primary and the general election."

Janklow's campaign manager, Jim Hagen, questions the poll's results. Hagen says, "Our internal polling has shown us with a comfortable lead, we're starting to pull away, bottom line is this, we're going to keep working very hard through the election day."

25 percent of the voters who picked Herseth say the major reason was because they dislike Janklow. 36 percent of the voters who picked Janklow say the major reason was because he's done a good job.

A scientific poll with 600 interviews, has a margin of error of 4 percent. With less than four weeks until the election, the 13 percent of the voters who are still undecided will likely pick the winner.

Herseth says, "I'm hoping that the reason they're still undecided is because they're waiting to get more information about me, what I stand for, my positions on the issues and how I think I can make a difference in South Dakota and Congress."

Hagen says, "I feel very good where we're at. The more the Governor has been able to get out and take his message to the voters, the better we continue to do."

The KELOLAND poll was conducted by phone during the last week. 94 percent of the registered voters surveyed say they're likely to vote November 5th. John Bachman © 2002 KELO-TV. All Rights Reserved.

[mwl1]

yes, his little porkchop.

[Dan from Michigan]

It sounds from what I'm reading that Janklow needs to get off his ASS and work the trail.