Democrat leads in party R.I. Senate poll

PROVIDENCE, R.I., Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Rhode Island voters polled by the Democrats favored U.S. Rep. James Langevin, D-R.I., over Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee in the 2006 Senate race.

The poll, which was conducted for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee by the Mellman Group, showed Langevin leading liberal Republican Chafee 52 percent to 32 percent among the 500 registered voters surveyed. Seventeen percent of respondents said they were undecided.

The Providence (R.I.) Journal said Wednesday that Mellman also also tested Chafee's strength against two other Democrats who are considering U.S. Senate bids -- Secretary of State Matthew Brown and former Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse -- but that the DSCC would not release the results. An unnamed Chafee staffer told the paper they understood the results to show the incumbent, "with a big lead over Whitehouse and an even larger margin over Brown."

The poll was conducted Jan. 11-13 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.