New poll implies bad news for Wilson

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - With the election just five weeks away, more bad news bubbled up Monday for Republican Senate candidate Heather Wilson.

A new, independent poll shows the former congresswoman has fallen further behind Democrat U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich in the race to replace retiring Sen. Jeff Bingaman.

The latest poll numbers from Rasmussen came just as Wilson is releasing new ads.

The poll conducted late in September has Heinrich with 52 percent of the vote and Wilson with 39 percent.

Rasmussen also polled the Heinrich/Wilson race on Aug. 21st when it found Heinrich ahead 48-41.

But there is a new factor in the most recent Rasmussen poll.  This time it included conservative independent candidate, Jon Barrie.

Barrie collected 3 percent of those polled, and political analysts say they most likely hurt Wilson's numbers.

All this puts Wilson in a tough situation, according to Gabe Sanchez, a political science professor at the University of New Mexico.  While he doesn't think she would call it a race, he does say she is running out of time with big tide to reverse.

Interestingly, last Friday Wilson and Heinrich released results of their own internal polls that also included Barrie. Heinrich's poll aligned with the Rasmussen polls numbers with Barrie having 3 percent.  Wilson's poll had Barrie with 9 percent.

Another factor Wilson has to deal with is time. With the Nov. 6 election nearing--and early and absentee voting about to start--she only has a few weeks to sway a shrinking block of New Mexico voters.

In Bernalillo County early in-person voting begins on Oct. 9 at the My Vote Center, 620 Lomas Boulevard NW and expands to 16 other sites on Oct. 20.  The early voting locations are open 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday through Nov. 3.

Around New Mexico early voting begins Oct. 9 at county clerk's offices, according to the Secretary of State Election Bureau website and is some counties expands to additional locations on Oct. 20.