Polls & Research
Archive Search
Rough Start for Sheehan in Battle to Unseat Pelosi
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan faces a difficult task if she runs against current House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi next year, according to a poll by SurveyUSA released by KPIX. 66 per cent of respondents in California's 8th Congressional District say they will vote for Pelosi, no matter who the Republican candidate is.
Unconditional support for Sheehan stands at nine per cent, while 21 per cent of respondents would need to know who the GOP contender would be, before deciding their vote.
On Aug. 9, Sheehan—the mother of U.S. soldier Casey Sheehan, who died in April 2004 during the coalition effort in Iraq—officially announced her bid for the California congressional seat currently held by the House of Representatives speaker. Sheehan said she decided to seek public office after Pelosi failed to support articles of impeachment against U.S. president George W. Bush last month, adding, "The country is ripe for a change. It's going to start right here and right now."
Pelosi spokesman Nadeam Elshami said the House speaker has opposed the "misguided" Iraq war from the start, adding, "As a mother and grandmother, (she) understands that there is no greater tragedy than losing a child."
Pelosi has represented California's 8th District in the lower house since 1987. In the 2006 ballot, she defeated three contenders with 80.4 per cent of the vote. The next congressional election is scheduled for November 2008.
Polling Data
In an election for the U.S. House of Representatives, with Nancy Pelosi running as a Democrat, and Cindy Sheehan running as an independent, which describes you?
I would vote for Pelosi, no matter who the Republican is | 66% |
I would vote for Sheehan no matter who the Republican is | 9% |
I would need to know who the Republican is before I know how I would vote | 21% |
Not sure | 4% |
Source: SurveyUSA / KPIX
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 583 registered voters who reside in California's 8th Congressional District, conducted on Aug. 9, 2007. Margin of error is 3.9 per cent.