Murtha: Suddenly a Tight Race

There are many surprisingly tight House and Senate races this year, but nearly all of them involve formerly safe Republicans. Now, via Politico, we hear that a nationally prominent Democrat who made some nasty comments about his own constituents may have a fight on his hands:

A new poll released today shows longtime Democratic congressman John Murtha in a tough re-election fight after he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last week that “there’s no question that western Pennsylvania is a racist area.”

The poll, conducted by Susquehanna Polling and Research, shows Murtha holding only a 46 to 41 percent lead over his Republican opponent, retired lieutenant colonel William Russell. Over half of the respondents (54 percent) said that it was time for someone else to represent them in Congress.

The poll surveyed 400 voters on October 21, and has a 4.9 percent margin of error.

Murtha’s videotaped remarks lambasting his own constituents as racists have created a mini-firestorm in the district. After apologizing for his comments, he stepped into further controversy when he told a local television station that, years ago, the area “was really redneck.”

Murtha won his 2006 general election race by a landslide 61-39% and ran unopposed in 2004.