The race for U.S. Senate in South Dakota has grown more competitive as independent candidate Larry Pressler bleeds support from Republican Mike Rounds, according to a new poll released Wednesday.
The Survey USA poll showed Mr. Rounds’ lead shrink to 3 percentage points in the three-man race. He garnered 35 percent support, followed by Mr. Pressler at 32 percent and Democrat Rick Weiland at 28 in the race to replace retiring Sen. Tim Johnson.
The same poll last month showed Mr. Rounds with 39 percent, Mr. Weiland with 28 percent and Mr. Pressler with 25 percent.
The new Survey USA poll contradicts every other major poll, which have all shown Mr. Rounds, a former South Dakota governor, with a double-digit lead. A CBS News/New York Times poll last week gave Mr. Rounds a 15-point advantage.
Still, the new poll found a deep reservoir of support for Mr. Pressler, a former U.S. senator who lost to Mr. Johnson in 1996, who has runs to the right of Mr. Rounds.
Just 55 percent of the state’s Republican Party base backed Mr. Rounds, according to the survey.
If Mr. Weiland dropped out of the contest, 71 percent of his supporters told the pollsters that they would back Mr. Pressler, compared to only 9 percent who would go to Mr. Rounds. That would put Mr. Pressler ahead of Mr. Rounds 54 percent to 39 percent.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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