Barnett leads to succeed Moran

[ccharles000]

State senator Jim Barnett holds an early lead for the Republican nomination in the race to succeed Rep. Jim Moran (R-Kan.), who is leaving office to run for the Senate, according to a new SurveyUSA poll.

Barnett leads state senator Tim Huelskamp 23 to 16 percent, with Rob Wasinger, the former chief of staff to Sen. Sam Brownback, in third place with 8 percent. Four other candidates tally in the low single-digits.

Huelskamp is the favored candidate of the conservative Club for Growth, which endorsed him last September.

Whoever wins the GOP nomination will be the heavy favorite to succeed Moran in the House, given the western Kansas district is one of the most Republican in the country, giving John McCain 69 percent of the vote in 2008.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33395.html