Poll has Pearce up six points in Senate primary

An Albuquerque Journal poll of the Republican U.S. Senate primary race released Sunday has Steve Pearce with a six-point lead heading into Tuesday’s election.

Pearce had the backing of 45 percent of likely GOP primary voters, while primary opponent Heather Wilson had the support of 39 percent, according to the poll.

That left 16 percent undecided in the survey, which was conducted from Tuesday to Thursday and had a margin of error of 4 percent. The poll was conducted by Research and Polling Inc. for the Journal.

“Pearce’s message of being the consistent conservative appears to have worked,” the company’s president, Brian Sanderoff, was quoted in the Journal as saying.

But the race isn’t over. Wilson has a history of finishing stronger than predicted by pundits or indicated by polls. And the new poll was conducted just before U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici endorsed Wilson in the primary on Friday.

It’s not clear that Domenici’s late endorsement can make a significant difference, but that isn’t stopping Domenici and the Wilson campaign from trying. In a weekend robocall to Republicans around the state, which you can hear by clicking here, Domenici urged voters to pick Wilson.

Pearce’s only comment on Domenici’s endorsement was this:

“I respect Senator Domenici and look forward to working with him in the future,” Pearce said in a statement released by his campaign. “Our campaign is in good shape and we are confident of victory on Tuesday.”