Colo. gov poll shows Democrat leading

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Democrat Bill Ritter is leading Republican Rep. Bob Beauprez in the race for Colorado governor, according to a poll released Friday that also shows a large number of undecided voters.

Democrat Bill Ritter is leading Republican Rep. Bob Beauprez (news, bio, voting record) in the race for Colorado governor, according to a poll released Friday that also shows a large number of undecided voters.

Ritter, a former Denver district attorney, leads Beauprez 43 percent to 33 percent, according to the statewide poll of 500 likely voters by Ciruli Associates. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

The poll found that 20 percent of respondents were undecided.

There are about 170,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats in Colorado, but the poll showed Ritter with a 32-percentage-point lead over Beauprez among unaffiliated voters. Ritter also appeared to be doing a better job than Beauprez at attracting voters from the other party, the poll showed.

According to the poll, Ritter leads Beauprez in every region of the state except on the eastern plains.

The survey was conducted Sept. 26 to Oct. 2 using voter registration lists. The political questions were part of a larger survey concerning economic development sponsored by the Economic Developers' Council of Colorado.