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Fox Has Lead Over Bucy in Attorney General’s Race

By Beacon Staff

HELENA — Republican Tim Fox holds a slight lead over Democrat Pam Bucy in the race for attorney general, while the contests for secretary of state and a seat on the Montana Supreme Court are nearly even, a new poll shows.

A survey commissioned by Lee Newspapers of Montana found Fox with support from 48 percent of likely voters, while Bucy was the choice of 42 percent, with 10 percent undecided.

Bucy has closed the gap from a mid-September poll in which she trailed Fox 46 percent to 37 percent, with 17 percent undecided.

In the most recent poll, Mason-Dixon Polling & Research of Washington, D.C., interviewed 625 registered voters from Monday through Wednesday on cellphone and land lines. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Incumbent Secretary of State Linda McCulloch had the support of 46 percent of respondents, compared with 44 percent for Republican Brad Johnson, whom she unseated in 2008. The difference was within the poll’s margin of error. Libertarian Roger Roots was favored by 2 percent of respondents, while 8 percent were undecided.

The race for a seat on the Montana Supreme Court also was close, with District Judge Laurie McKinnon of Choteau favored by 37 percent of people interviewed, and public defender Ed Sheehy of Missoula with 35 percent support. More than one-quarter of the likely voters polled were still undecided in that race.

A Lee poll in September showed Sheehy with 23 percent, McKinnon with 22 percent and 55 percent undecided.

State Auditor Monica Lindeen held a 49 percent to 38 percent lead over Republican challenger Derek Skees, with 13 percent undecided. Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau had a slight 49 percent to 44 percent lead over Republican Sandy Welch, with 7 percent undecided.

Those polled this week also were asked if they would vote for a Democrat or Republican in their legislative races. Fifty-two percent said Republican, 44 percent said Democrat, and 4 percent were undecided.