Poll: Coburn leads Okla. GOP Senate field

TULSA, Okla., April 19 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Rep. Tom Coburn leads the GOP field in the race for the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Don Nickles in Oklahoma.

Coburn, a late entry into the race, finished first, at 34 percent, in the survey conducted by Consumer Logic of Tulsa. Former Oklahoma City Mayor Kirk Humphreys, who has backing of Nickles and U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., was second at 22 percent while state Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony, at 12 percent, was third. One third of the 825 registered voters surveyed said they were still undecided.

A test of a general election match up between Coburn and U.S. Rep. Brad Carson, D-Okla., had Carson slightly ahead with 37 percent against 35 percent for Coburn, a statistically insignificant difference inside the poll's plus or minus 3.4 percent margin of error.

Pollster Al Soltow told the Tulsa World that his analysis of the data shows Coburn leading in the metropolitan areas of Oklahoma City and Tulsa while Carson was ahead in the rest of the state. Nickles, a Republican, is retiring after four terms in the Senate.