Republican Christine Drazan, who is running to be the next governor of Oregon, slightly leads against Democrat opponent Tina Kotek, according to the latest poll.
The poll from Oregon-based Nelson Research showed that Drazan slightly led Kotek by a little over two points, 43.5 percent to 41.1 percent. The poll also showed that 5.4 percent would vote for Betsy Johnson, an unaffiliated candidate, while 9.4 percent were still undecided.
Nelson Research also claimed that 42.6 percent of the respondents have already voted, and of those who voted, Drazan slightly leads Kotek, 47.6 percent to 46.7 percent.
The opinion research firm’s poll surveyed 577 likely voters from October 31 to November 1 and had a 4.1 percent margin of error.
Other recent polls from Trafalgar Group and the left-wing Data for Progress also showed the Republican winning. At the same time, FiveThirtyEight currently considers this race a toss-up, meaning it could go either way on election night.
Kevin Curry, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Linfield College, told KOIN that the unaffiliated candidate is taking votes away from both sides, indicating that this is why the Republican and Democrat candidates are so close in the polls.
“So how does that shift change the support for Drazan or Kotek? We’re seeing it stay consistent, which suggests Betsy Johnson is taking support from both candidates,” Curry stated. “A lot of people thought that might pull more from Kotek, but it appears it was pulling from both Drazan and Kotek.”
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.