GOP's Renzi leading in Arizona poll

PHOENIX, April 14 (UPI) -- A Northern Arizona Univ. poll shows GOP freshman U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi leading Democrat Paul Babbitt by 11 points in the 1st Congressional District.

The race is expected to be one of the most hotly contested in the nation and occupies a critical position in the Democrats' battle to recapture control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The survey of 611 likely voters showed Renzi with 49 percent of the vote and Babbitt, former mayor of Flagstaff and brother of Clinton Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, at 38 percent with 12 percent undecided. The poll was conducted between April 7 and April 11 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.

Renzi won election in 2002 by just over 6,000 votes in his first ever bid for public office. The district gave George W. Bush 51 percent of its votes in the 2000 presidential election against 46 percent for former Vice President Albert Gore.