Poll: Republicans lead Democrats in statewide races

The Birmingham News had an encouraging report over the weekend:

Republican Gov. Bob Riley has a lead of 21 percentage points over his Democratic challenger, Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley, according to a new statewide poll.

Riley, who narrowly defeated incumbent Democrat Don Siegelman to win the governor's chair in 2002, was the choice of 55 percent of the 500 surveyed voters. Baxley was the choice of 34 percent, while the rest said they were undecided. ...

The question posed to the voters was, "If the election for governor were held today, would you would for (Riley or Baxley)?"

In response to a similar question about the candidates for lieutenant governor, 47 percent of the voters said they would choose Republican Luther Strange and 38 percent opted for the Democrat, former Gov. Jim Folsom. The rest said they were undecided.

For attorney general, 46 percent of the surveyed voters said they preferred Republican Troy King, whom Riley appointed to the post in 2004, while 28 percent were for the Democrat, Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson. For secretary of state, 41 percent were for the GOP nominee, state Auditor Beth Chapman, and 34 percent said they would vote for Democratic incumbent Nancy Worley.