I swear I didn't plan for this to be all-Colorado day. But speaking of the Ridder/Braden, Inc. polling firm (which did the Musgrave/Matsunaka poll I blogged earlier), they've also polled the Beauprez/
Dave Thomas race in Colorado 7.
Ridder/Braden. 2/28-3-3. MoE 4.6%.
Bob Bauprez (R) 39
Lean Beauprez 4
Dave Thomas (D) 32
Lean Thomas 9
The polling memo states, in part:
the race is extremely polarized, as 73% of Republicans are voting for Beauprez, 69% of Democrats favor Thomas, while among Unaffiliated voters the race is dead even - 38% for each candidate.
Thomas is able to stay within the margin of error by out-performing traditional Democrats in the Jefferson County portion of the District. Despite the County's Republican-leaning electorate, Beauprez and Thomas are essentially tied - 42% for Beauprez and 41% for Thomas - in Jefferson County. It is clear that Thomas' tenure as District Attorney, and his previous history of winning Jefferson County, gives him a unique advantage in this race. Beauprez leads Thomas by ten percent in the Arapahoe County portion of the District, while Thomas currently maintains a five percent advantage in Adams County.
What's amazing about these numbers is that Thomas has a name ID of 38 percent. Beauprez clocks in at 83 percent.
This is a race I considered for the dKos 8, but it's one that will get a ton of national money. It may very well be one of the most expensive house races this cycle.