McGovern, Noem have leads in newly released poll results

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Matt McGovern leads incumbent Public Utilities Commissioner Kristie Fiegen in a poll released Thursday by a Sioux Falls firm.

Nielson Brothers Polling says McGovern, a Democrat and the grandson of the late senator George McGovern, leads Fiegen, a Republican, by 6 percentage points (45 to 39 percent).

Libertarian Russell Clarke receives 5 percent of support, and 11 percent say they are undecided, ac-cording to the poll.

In the other race for PUC, incumbent Republican incumbent Chris Nelson is outdistancing Democrat Nick Nemec 58 percent to 28 percent, with 14 percent undecided.

Both Fiegen and Nelson were appointed to the commission by Gov. Dennis Daugaard in 2011. Fiegen and McGovern are competing for a full six-year term.

Nelson, a former two-term secretary of state, and Nemec, a former legislator, are competing to complete the final four years of a term that was won by Dusty Johnson, who resigned to take a post as chief of staff to Daugaard.

In the South Dakota House race, Republican Rep. Kristi Noem leads Democratic challenger Matt Varilek by 6 percent (50 to 44 percent) with 6 percent undecided, according to NBP.

Noem is seeking a second term after she knocked off Democrat Stephanie Herseth Sandlin in 2010. This is the first bid for elective office for Varilek, who served as a staffer to both Sens. Tom Daschle and Tim Johnson, both South Dakota Democrats.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is ahead of Democrat Barack Obama in the state by 8 percentage points (50 to 42 percent), with 8 percent still undecided.

NBP surveyed a random selection of likely South Dakota voters Oct. 28-31. The number of responses ranged from 634 to 671. The margins of error ranged from 3.78 percent to 3.89 percent.

Tags: election 2012, news, updates, politics