Mark Sanford’s attempt at political revival may not be so far fetched afterall.
The former governor leads Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch in the special election for South Carolina’s 1st congressional district by one point, 47 percent to 46 percent, according to a new survey by Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling released Sunday, a race the pollster deems “too close to call.” The result marks a 10 point reversal from PPP’s last poll of the district two weeks ago, in which Colbert Busch carried a comfortable 50 percent to 41 percent lead after Sanford became mired in the midst of new trespassing allegations by his ex-wife, Jenny Sanford.
From PPP’s analysis:
Sanford has gotten back into the race by nationalizing it and painting Colbert Busch as a liberal. A plurality of voters in the district- 47%- say they think Colbert Busch is a liberal compared to 43% who characterize her as ideologically ‘about right.’ Colbert Busch’s favorability rating has dropped a net 19 points compared to 2 weeks ago, from +25 then at 56/31 to +6 now at 50/44.
Despite his recent setbacks, the poll suggests Sanford has had success tying Colbert Busch to House Democrats — in particular Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) — who remains deeply unpopular with the first district electorate. While the race is still up for grabs, it appears Sanford has the “momentum headed into election day” on May 7, according to PPP.
The poll surveyed 1,239 likely voters on May 4th and 5th and its margin of error is +/-2.8%.
