Coors jumps ahead in race for Senate seat

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DENVER -- Republican Pete Coors, a millionaire, says there are too many lawyers in the Senate, while Ken Salazar, a lawyer, says there are too many millionaires.

Colorado voters are siding with the millionaires for now.

A statewide poll released yesterday by the Rocky Mountain News and KCNC-TV, the local CBS affiliate, found that Mr. Coors has leapfrogged Mr. Salazar, Colorado's attorney general.

The survey of 400 likely voters showed that Mr. Coors led 45 percent to 40 percent, just outside the 4.33-point margin of error. The same poll, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, showed Mr. Salazar besting Mr. Coors a month ago by a hefty 52 percent to 42 percent.

"It's almost entirely because Republican voters are coming home," said pollster Lori Weigel. "Republicans are finally matching or exceeding the intensity of the Democrats."

In its television and radio ads, the Coors campaign has pounded Mr. Salazar as a liberal lawyer who has received generous support from trial lawyers, a message that might be resonating with the Republican faithful, she said.

"They're saying, '[Salazar] is a liberal, he's a lawyer,' which is the sort of thing that Republican voters respond to," Ms. Weigel said.

For its part, the Salazar camp has tried to tar Mr. Coors, the heir to the Coors Brewing Company fortune, as a rich guy who is out of touch with regular folks. One of the campaign's oft-repeated slogans is "Ken Salazar: Experience Money Just Can't Buy."

The Salazar campaign responded to the survey by releasing its own tracking poll showing Mr. Salazar ahead, 49 percent to 43 percent. A Gallup poll conducted over the weekend for USA Today and CNN showed Mr. Salazar ahead, 49 percent to 48 percent.

The candidates are vying to succeed Republican Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, whose unexpected retirement in March threw the seat into the tossup category. The race had drawn national attention as one of a handful that could tip the balance of power in the Senate.

Voter-registration figures released Monday show that Republicans still enjoy the edge, despite the recent influx of Democrat-leaning voter drives. Republicans outnumber Democrats by 36 percent to 31 percent among Colorado's 3 million voters, while unaffiliated voters made up 33 percent.

Those unaffiliated voters account for about 60 percent of the state's 110,000 net new registrants, with Republicans and Democrats splitting the rest almost evenly, according to the Secretary of State's office.

That Republican edge might help account for President Bush's recent surge here. The same poll found Mr. Bush ahead of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, 47 percent to 42 percent, with independent candidate Ralph Nader taking 3 percent.

"We've seen and sensed for several weeks now the momentum building behind Pete," said Coors spokeswoman Cinamon Watson. "Certainly, every poll you can point to shows Pete's numbers going up and the president's numbers going up."

Mr. Bush made a two-day stop last week to campaign with the candidate. Mr. Coors also appeared yesterday in Denver with the president's twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna Bush.

Mr. Kerry also has made several stops in Colorado, but Mr. Salazar has yet to campaign with the Massachusetts senator, although they're scheduled to appear together Saturday.