Pure Pierre Politics

The latest Rasmussen polling results in South Dakota’s congressional race were released today. They show Secretary of State Chris Nelson, a Republican, in a statistical dead heat with the incumbent, Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin. The Rasmussen numbers have Herseth Sandlin leading him 45 percent to 41 percent. While their race remains in essentially the same status as during March, when she led 44 percent to 42 percent, Herseth Sandlin seemed to pick up a little ground against the two other Republican candidates this month. She led state Rep. Kristi Noem 50 percent to 35 and state Rep. Blake Curd 48 percent to 36 percent. Overall, however, there hasn’t been any significant shift in this contest so far this spring. The Republican nominee will be selected in the June 8 primary election. At this point, Herseth Sandlin’s advantage seems to be among independents, from whom she gets more support than any of the three Republicans, according to Rasmussen’s findings. ADDENDUM: Two other important points: 1) Chris Nelson is faring surprisingly well, given that he’s been running only a grassroots campaign to this point – which says something about his acceptance and the carry-over of his reputation after being a candidate in just two previous campaigns for statewide elected office; and 2) Herseth Sandlin is still leading, albeit barely, but she remains in first place which is the only place that matters in an election for a single seat.