Arkansas Rep. Vic Snyder, a top Republican target in 2010, lags behind his GOP challenger in a Survey USA poll that was in the field Jan. 11 to 13.

Snyder, a Democrat who represents the Little Rock area, trailed Republican Tim Griffin 39 to 56 according to a phone survey commissioned by the liberal blog Firedoglake.

Those numbers combined with the ongoing fundraising disparity in the race certainly won't quell speculation over whether the incumbent might retire rather than run again..

Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann goes into 2010 in a strong political position, according to a poll conducted Dec. 17-20 by Public Policy Polling.

Bachmann has a double-digit lead over two prospective Democratic challengers and is above 50 percent in both match-ups, underscoring the challenges Democrats face in the Republican-leaning 6th District.

Against state Sen. Tarryl Clark, the Democratic front-runner, Bachmann leads 55 percent to 37 percent among registered district voters with 8 percent undecided. Bachmann has a slightly smaller edge against physician Maureen Reed, 53 percent to 37 percent with 10 percent undecided, which could fuel Reed's claim that she is more electable than Clark. The margin of error was 3.7 percent.

And despite Bachmann's polarizing image nationally, she remains popular in her district, with 53 percent approving of her job performance and 41 percent disapproving. Fifty-four percent said they do not think her views are too extremist, while 37 percent said they were. However, a plurality -- 48 percent -- said they think Bachmann is more focused on being a national leader in the conservative movement than in advocating for the district, a line of attack Democrats are already trying to use against her.

A national survey conducted jointly by a prominent pollster from each of the major parties underscored what has become a theme in the year before the midterm elections. Republicans and independent voters who now are leaning Republican are more fired up to vote in 2010 than Democratic voters.

This conclusion was confirmed by both Ed Goeas of The Tarrance Group, a Republican consulting firm, and Democratic consultant Celinda Lake of Lake Research Partners, who were the lead pollsters on The Battleground Poll. The survey is conducted under the auspices of George Washington University.

The poll of 1,000 Americans deemed likely to vote, taken Dec. 6-9, found that 77 percent of both Republican and independent respondents said they are extremely likely to vote in the 2010 elections. Among Democratic respondents, 64 percent said they are extremely likely to vote.

This is worrisome for Democrats, as it is a flip of voters' political attitudes in the 2006 and 2008 elections, which saw them win and grow majorities in both chambers of Congress and capture the White House. The Democratic Party prospered over the past two election cycles because Republicans and Republican-leaning independents -- disappointed with President George W. Bush and the congressional GOP -- were less fired up to vote than Democrats seeking change.

Democrats have the early edge to capture the open at-large congressional district in Delaware, according to a Public Policy Polling survey conducted Nov. 30 to Dec. 2.

Former Lt. Gov. John Carney (D) has a double-digit lead in hypothetical November 2010 trial heats over Fred Cullis (R), a little-known businessman who announced his candidacy last month, and Charlie Copeland, a former state senator who is weighing a bid for the Republican nomination.

Carney led Cullis by 47 percent to 24 percent and Copeland by 44 percent to 32 percent, according to the survey of 571 voters.

After winning re-election with ease over the past decade, Arkansas Rep. Vic Snyder may be in for the toughest race of his career, according to a Public Policy Polling survey conducted Nov. 11 through 13th.

In hypothetical matchups against three little-known Republican opponents, Democrat Snyder was in a statistical tossup, according to PPP, a Democratic firm based in North Carolina.

He led Little Rock attorney Tim Griffin 44 to 43, and polled slightly better against restaurant owner Scott Wallace, leading 44 to 42.

A new poll from DailyKos and Research2000 confirms what election watchers have been saying for the past week -- the special House election in upstate New York is coming down to a race between Democrat Bill Owens and third-party candidate Doug Hoffman. The poll was conducted Oct. 26 to 28. The election is Nov. 3.

Among likely voters, Owens, an attorney, leads Hoffman, an accountant running on the state Conservative Party line, 33 to 32 percent, well within the 4 percentage point margin of error. Republican Dede Scozzafava lags behind at 21 percent. Fourteen percent remain undecided in the 23rd District, which takes in the Northeast corner of the state. Nine-term Rep. John M. McHugh resigned the seat in September to become Secretary of the Army.

Owens held relatively steady compared to the DailyKos poll released Oct. 23, which had him at 35 percent of the vote. The big swing is in the standing of Hoffman and Scozzafava, who continue their dramatic movement in opposite directions.

In the first hours after his "You Lie" outburst, voters in the South Carolina district of Rep. Joe Wilson weren't happy with him, according to a poll by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling conducted Sept. 10 and 11.

A strong majority - 62 percent -- said they disapproved of Wilson's outburst during the president's speech to a joint session of Congress.

The survey group, comprised of 747 people who voted in the 2004, 2006 and 2008 elections, was divided on whether the episode would make them less likely to vote to re-elect Wilson in 2010. Forty-nine percent said they're now less likely to vote for him while 35 percent said they now are more likely to back Wilson.

For 16 percent of the voters surveyed, Wilson's behavior at the joint session of Congress made no difference.

Democratic Lt. Gov. John Garamendi leads his closest Democratic competitor by 11 percentage points in the crowded field for California’s 10th District special election, according to an Aug. 10-11 SurveyUSA poll of registered voters.

A total of 14 — five Democrats, six Republicans and three third-party candidates — qualified for the Sept. 1 election and will appear on the ballot to choose a successor to Democrat Ellen O. Tauscher, who resigned her seat to serve as undersecretary of State for arms control and international security.

Garamendi led the SurveyUSA poll with 26 percent, Democratic state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier received 15 percent, Democratic state Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan received 12 percent, Iraq War veteran Anthony Woods, a Democrat, received 5 percent.

Republican businessman David Harmer received 18 percent.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tends to be viewed unfavorably by a plurality of voters in national polls, but back home in California, when measured by job approval, state voters approve of her performance by 48 percent to 35 percent with 17 percent undecided, according to a Field Poll conducted Feb. 20 - March 1.

For Pelosi, those marks contrast with the figures in May 2008 when 39 percent disapproved of the way she did her job compared to 30 percent who approved.

Recent national polls have rated her by the favorability measure. A recent Newsweek/Princeton Research poll found 41 percent viewing her favorably, 35 percent unfavorably and 14 percent undecided. CNN Opinion/Research said 43 percent viewed her unfavorably and 36 percent favorably.

The political newcomer on the March 31 special election ballot has been gaining ground in the race for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand 's vacant upstate New York House seat, according to a Siena Research Institute pollreleased Thursday.

The Democrats' nominee in the 20th Congressional District contest, Scott Murphy, moved to within striking distance of Republican Jim Tedisco, a state Assembly leader.

The survey of likely voters showed better-known Tedisco leading Murphy by only 4 percentage points, 45 percent to 41 percent.

Another survey of likely voters in that race, conducted Feb. 18-19, showed Tedisco holding a 12-point lead. Each poll had a statistical margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percent.

A businessman and first-time candidate, Murphy was a virtual unknown when he jumped into the race for the seat Gillibrand vacated in January, after she was appointed to the Senate seat that Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton left to become secretary of State.