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Erika Bolstad

Erika Bolstad covers Alaska issues, including the congressional delegation, from Washington, D.C., for McClatchy Newspapers. Before joining the bureau in 2007, she spent seven years as a reporter at the Miami Herald, where she covered politics, government and the state legislature. E-mail Erika at ebolstad@adn.com.

Sean Cockerham

Sean Cockerham writes about Alaska state politics. He spent three years based in Juneau for the ADN before joining the Tacoma News-Tribune to write about Washington state politics. He went to Iraq twice for the News Tribune, and previously wrote about Alaska government and politics for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. E-mail Sean at scockerham@adn.com

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins covers politics and other stories for the ADN. He covered the 2006 campaign for governor, has blogged extensively about Alaska politics, covered Anchorage city government and was a reporter based in the Mat-Su. He grew up in Southeast Alaska and previously was a reporter at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Press. E-mail Kyle at khopkins@adn.com

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Stevens, Begich, Palin poll numbers

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Posted: October 7, 2008 - 11:55 am

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From Kyle Hopkins in Anchorage --

The Senate race between Sen. Ted Stevens & Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich is virtual tie, according to a Monday telephone survey from Rasmussen Reports.

The polling firm reports Stevens leads Begich 49 to 48 percent, and that Stevens has gained on Begich since last month when the Anchorage Democrat led 48 to 46 percent.

Rasmussen says:
Stevens' slight bump up in the race comes after his federal trial began last month in Washington, D.C. Stevens defeated two challengers in the state GOP primary even after his indictment. Begich is now viewed more favorably than the incumbent. The mayor is viewed favorably by 59% and unfavorably by 36%. Stevens' ratings are 54% favorable, 44% unfavorable.

The same poll places Gov. Sarah Palin's approval rating at about 62 percent. That's based on a survey of 500 likely Alaska voters.

Anchorage pollster Ivan Moore released new results today too, including similar approval numbers for Palin, which he says are slowly falling.

Her positive-to-negative numbers dropped 3 percentage points in the past two weeks, to 65-30, Moore wrote, compared to 68-27 in late September and 82-13 just after McCain chose her as his running mate.

That's based on an Oct. 3-6 poll of 500 likely Alaska voters.

Moore included this graph, tracking Palin's approval since late 2005. "We see that while her positive rating was lower early in her statewide career, her negative has never been measured at a higher point than it is today," he writes.