Poll: Comstock up big in race to replace Wolf

Virginia Del. Barbara Comstock (R) has a huge lead over her primary foes, according to a poll commissioned by Citizens United, a conservative group supporting her.

{mosads}Comstock pulls 44 percent support in the primary to replace retiring Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), with her next-closest challenger, Virginia Del. Bob Marshall (R), at 10 percent support. Four other challengers are at 3 percent or below, according to the survey conducted by the Polling Company, Inc.

With the April 26 “firehouse primary” just weeks away, it seems increasingly clear that she has a strong grip on the nomination.

“The Virginia 10th firehouse Republican Primary is Barbara Comstock’s to lose. She is both well-liked and best-known in the field,” pollster Kellyanne Conway writes in the polling memo.

Polls conducted for organizations with a dog in the fight should always be viewed with some skepticism, but Comstock’s huge lead indicates she might have few problems winning the GOP nomination.

The longtime Beltway power player and former Wolf staffer has posted huge fundraising numbers. She’s also managed to unite warring wings of the party behind her, sporting endorsements from both former presidential nominee Mitt Romney and conservative radio host Mark Levin, as well as from the conservative group behind this poll.

The live-caller survey of 402 likely primary voters was conducted from April 4-5 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

Her opponents clearly see her as the front-runner as well. One of Comstock’s lesser-known opponents, Howie Lind (R), is up with a new radio ad accusing her of supporting Medicaid expansion. A new report in The Washington Times says she voted in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, though she said it was part of Rush Limbaugh’s “Operation Chaos” to delay President Obama’s primary win.

Democrats are hopeful they can target the Republican-leaning suburban D.C. district this fall with their likely nominee, Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust (D).