DON WALTON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, April 25, 2006 7:00 pm
Gov. Dave Heineman and Rep. Tom Osborne are running virtually even in a new independent voter survey of the Republican gubernatorial race.
The survey of 500 likely voters conducted on April 19 showed Heineman at 44 percent and Osborne at 43 percent. Dave Nabity was at 5 percent.
That reverses the 44-43 edge Osborne enjoyed over Heineman in an earlier April 9-10 poll of 500 likely voters and appeared to confirm the dead-even nature of the race.
The latest survey was conducted by Rasmussen Reports, a national public opinion and political polling firm. The earlier survey by Voter/Consumer Research was conducted for Pete Ricketts’ Republican Senate campaign.
In the latest independent survey, Ricketts was a runaway winner in his GOP contest with Don Stenberg and David Kramer.
The Rasmussen results: Ricketts, 52 percent; Stenberg, 26 percent; Kramer, 8 percent.
That more than doubled the lead Ricketts enjoyed in the earlier Voter/Consumer survey. Those figures were Ricketts, 43 percent; Stenberg, 33 percent; Kramer, 7 percent.
The April 19 Rasmussen survey showed Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson holding a commanding early lead over Ricketts in a general election showdown.
The figures for Senate matchups in November:
Nelson, 54 percent; Ricketts, 36 percent.
Nelson, 61 percent; Stenberg, 26 percent.
Nelson, 64 percent; Kramer, 24 percent.
As the gubernatorial race appeared headed to the wire, the Omaha Federation of Labor announced its endorsement of Heineman in the May 9 Republican primary election.
“The governor’s economic development efforts have focused on growing good, high-paying jobs for Nebraska workers,” said Mark McColley, first vice president of the labor organization.
“We will vigorously contact our Republican membership and encourage them to vote for Governor Heineman.”
Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.