Lugar Holds Single-Digit Lead Over Mourdock in New Poll

Lugar Holds Single-Digit Lead Over Mourdock in New Poll:
Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar, the most senior Republican in the Senate, is in serious jeopardy of losing his May 8 GOP primary race to state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, a new poll released on Thursday shows.

Lugar leads Mourdock among likely primary voters, 42 percent to 35 percent, according to the Howey/DePauw Indiana Battleground poll, conducted by a bipartisan team of campaign pollsters. Twenty-three percent of likely primary voters are undecided.

For a longtime incumbent like Lugar, that he is only at 42 percent a month prior to a primary election is a sign of significant peril.

"Coming on the heels of some pretty awful headlines, it is a good news for the Lugar campaign that he is up, but more important than the spread or the challenger's percentage is that the incumbent's number at 42% is not a good number," said Christine Matthews, the Republican half of Howey/DePauw team.