Rasmussen Results Show Senate Race as Dead Heat: Schaffer 42, Udall 41

The highly reputable Rasmussen polling firm has released its latest round of campaign survey results, and found next year's Colorado U.S. Senate race to be a dead heat:

Former Congressman Bob Schaffer (R) and Congressman Mark Udall (D)—vying for the open seat vacated by retiring Senator Wayne Allard, a Republican—are virtually tied when likely Colorado voters consider their state’s 2008 Senate election. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Schaffer with 42% of the vote while Udall earns 41%.

In late August, Udall had a slight lead of 45-40 (Hill Consultants). In early October, Colorado Democrat pollster Floyd Ciruli showed the race in a dead heat of 36-35, with a large number of undecideds. One month ago, Roll Call and Survey USA charted Udall with a 48-41 advantage.

A few weeks ago, we picked up on the slow-moving trend of this race toward the Republican candidate. Now the growing collection of polling data from diverse sources over the past few months is available to give political observers the reasonable assessment that Colorado's Senate race going into 2008 is indeed a Toss-Up. Ladies and gentlemen, this contest is up for grabs.