The Senate race in South Dakota is far from over, a new poll published Monday suggests.
The survey, by the Republican-leaning firm Harper Polling, shows Republican Mike Rounds, a former governor, leading Democrat Rick Weiland by just four points, 37 percent to 33 percent. Meanwhile, the poll shows Independent Larry Pressler with 23 percent.
With a margin of error of 3.9 percent, the survey shows Weiland and Rounds in a true toss-up race — a major shock in a race that was thought to be safely in the Republican win column this year.
That result is consistent with the numbers Democrats have been seeing, which led them last week to announce a $1 million investment in the race with just three weeks until Election Day.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has begun airing an ad attacking Rounds for tax breaks awarded while he was governor to a company funded by foreign investments under the EB-5 program.
The news coverage of that issue locally has likely contributed to Rounds’ low favorability ratings. In the Harper survey, 51 percent had an unfavorable impression of Rounds. By contrast, 43 percent rated Weiland unfavorably, and just 38 percent had an unfavorable impression of Pressler.
The poll showed Pressler getting more support from self-identified Democrats than Republicans, which might indicate an opportunity for Democrats to win over some of those voters before Election Day.
The automated telephone poll surveyed 630 likely voters from Oct. 9 through Oct. 11.
