April Elway Poll: Gregoire 43, Rossi 38

A new Elway poll has Gov. Chris Gregoire leading Republican challenger Dino Rossi by a 5-point margin, 43% to 38%, the P-I is reporting. The last Elway poll, taken in January, showed Gregoire with a 48-35 lead.

Some of the crosstabs show the same findings are recent poll. Rossi has slightly stronger support among Republicans (78%) than Gregoire does with Democrats (71%). Gregoire would win Seattle handily (54%-28%), and Rossi would win Eastern Washington by a similar margin (54%-27%). Gregoire leads in King County as a whole (41%-35%), but Rossi leads the way in neighboring Pierce and Kitsap Counties, both at 45%-35%.

But perhaps worth noting most of all is that this is the first survey taken since Rossi's transportation plan unveiling in mid-April. Unfortunately it is difficult to see much of an effect. The Elway poll showed a closing of the gap from January, but a recent SurveyUSA poll showed a near-tie. The 43-38 tally also accounts from 19% undecided.

405 registered voters took part in the survey on April 21-22. The margin of error was +/- 5 percent.