Poll: Rep. Heinrich holds 4-point lead in New Mexico's Senate race

A new survey in the New Mexico U.S. Senate race shows Rep. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) with a four-point advantage over former Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.), according to a polling memo released Wednesday by a group supporting Heinrich's efforts.

The survey, conducted by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates, showed Heinrich with a 49-45 percent advantage. It also showed that voters have adopted a more negative perception of Wilson as environmental groups in the state have targeted her ties to the oil industry.

The number of those who have a favorable opinion of Wilson has dropped from 50 percent to 45 percent, while those expressing an unfavorable view has risen from 36 percent to 42 percent. The difference is more pronounced among centrist and independent voters; both groups now demonstrate net-negative views of Wilson.

Outside groups have been spending heavily in the race, with Karl Rove's American Crossroads running television ads depicting Wilson as an independent voice and environmental groups in the state knocking her votes removing regulations on oil companies. But the environmental groups seem to be gaining traction; 46 percent of those who say they recently learned new information about Wilson said they had a less favorable view, versus 32 percent who said they changed their opinion in favor of the Republican.

Still, there's some encouraging news for Wilson. Despite the dropping favorability numbers and spending by environmental groups, her four-point deficit is actually a marginal improvement over a Public Policy Polling survey released in April that showed Heinrich with a 48-43 percent lead.

This post was corrected at 4:30 p.m. to reflect that pro-Wilson ads were aired by American Crossroads, not Crossroads GPS.

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