Internal poll shows Brown holding narrow lead over Ose, McClintock

Congressional candidate Charlie BrownOne day before Republican primary voters head to the polls in the race to succeed to retiring U.S. Rep. John Doolittle, the campaign for Democrat Charlie Brown has released an internal poll showing Brown narrowly leading both of his prospective Republican opponents in a November general election matchup.

The survey, conducted by Peter Brodnitz, shows Brown, a retired Air Force officer, leading former U.S. Congressman Doug Ose 38 percent to 34 percent and leading state Senator Tom McClintock 42 percent to 40 percent. The survey also shows a 43 percent to 43 percent split in a generic matchup between a Republican and Democrat.

The survey of 400 likely general election voters was conducted on May 14 and May 15 and has a margin of error of 4.9 percent. (Click here to see the poll.)

“The numbers confirm that district four voters want real local leadership, and they want change,” Brown said Monday. “No matter which career politician wins the GOP Primary on Tuesday night, this race will continue to offer a clear contrast between a partisan approach that has failed America, and a country first approach that leads by example to solve problems.”

Winning the District 4 seat, which Doolittle has held for seven consecutive terms, would constitute a major victory for Democrats. George W. Bush won 61 percent of the vote in the district in 2004.

But Stan Devereux, a spokesman for McClintock, laughed off the results of the poll, saying, “This is the best news Charlie Brown will have between now and November.”

“The first objective from Doug Ose’s perspective is to win tomorrow night,” said Doug Elmets, a spokesman for Ose. “We’re taking it one campaign at a time.”