GOP regains lead in South Dakota

Former South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds (R) holds a nine-point lead over the rest of the South Dakota Senate field according to a new independent poll out Monday. 

{mosads}It’s the second independent survey to show the Republican regaining his expected advantage in the deep-red state, after outside GOP groups spent millions to stanch an unexpected surge from independent Larry Pressler.

The survey, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling for KELO-TV and the Argus Leader, gives Rounds 42 percent support to Democrat Rick Weiland’s 33 percent and Pressler’s 13 percent support among likely voters. The other independent in the race, Gordon Howie, takes two percent support.

Ten percent of likely voters were still undecided at the time the survey was conducted, Oct. 20-23. 

Another independent poll, out this weekend from NBC News and Marist College, gave Rounds a 14-point lead over the field, with Weiland taking 29 percent and Pressler taking 16 percent support.

Rounds released his own internal poll last Friday showing him up by 24 points.

He’s faced questions over his involvement in a controversial economic development program in the state that’s under federal investigation. Polling out earlier this month showed Pressler, a former Republican senator, surging and threatening to overtake Rounds. Sensing an opportunity, national Democrats and outside Democratic groups poured millions into the state attacking Rounds on the program and boosting Weiland.

But Republicans fought back with ads of their own linking Pressler to President Obama, and it seems their attacks have begun to work.

The Mason-Dixon poll was conducted among 800 likely voters by live interview via landline and cellphone. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.