NEW SURVEYUSA POLL: CHAVEZ PULLS AHEAD OF GOP CONTENDERS -- SLIGHTLY

There's a new poll for the New Mexico Senate race, performed by SurveyUSA in partnership with Roll Call that shows Bill Richardson, Marty Chavez and Diane Denish beating both Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce.

This is good news for Chavez, who last month was trailing both GOP candidates.

Tom Udall was not included in the poll. As Josh Kurtz, political editor of Roll Call explains, "He was not tested in Roll Call's poll - and his plans were disclosed too late to be included in the Election Preview, which went to press on Thursday." In last month's poll Udall also was ahead of both Republicans by good margins.

Denish was included because at the time the poll was taken she had not taken herself out of the race.

Richardson -- who insists he is not running for Senate -- would defeat Pearce and Wilson by more than 20 points.

Chavez would run a closer race. He'd beat Pearce by five points and Wilson by four. But the margin of error is 4 percent, so both should be considered dead heats.

Wilson and Pearce continue to beat Santa Fe developer and political newcomer Don Wiviott.

More on this in The New Mexican on Tuesday.