As hard as it might be to believe, former Mississippi Governor Ronnie Musgrove, a Democrat, leads incumbent rookie Senator Roger Wicker, according to a new poll conducted by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. A week after Democrats captured Wicker's old House seat in the northern part of the state, the poll shows good news as Democrats look for new ways to expand the playing field.

The survey, conducted 5/15-18 by Hamilton Campaigns for the DSCC, polled 600 likely voters for a margin of error of +/- 4%. Musgrove and Wicker were tested.

General Election Matchup
Musgrove.......48
Wicker............42

Musgrove has a higher favorable rating, of 57% compared with 30% who see him unfavorably, than Wicker does, at 42% favorable and 14% unfavorable. Having represented the Senate only since the end of 2007, that shouldn't surprise Wicker's people. In fact, the DSCC polling memo points out that Musgrove is much better known in the Southern part of the state, far away from Wicker's home base of Tupelo.

But the upper chamber's most junior member is taking nothing for granted, either: He raised more than $2.5 million in the First Quarter alone and transferred another $500,000 from his House committee, giving him plenty of funds to use to bolster his name identification.

But the poll is bad news for Republicans, already dealing with a cycle in which most expect the party to lose between four and six seats. Just 23% of Mississippians see the country heading in the right direction, while 58% think the country is going in the wrong direction, and voters are blaming Republicans, the DSCC concludes. "Last week, Mississippi voters showed they are tired of business as usual in Washington and ready for a change, and this poll shows that they are ready for a new Senator to replace Roger Wicker," DSCC spokesman Matt Miller said.

Wicker remains a favorite for retainment at the moment, given his cash advantage and the state's GOP tilt, both for federal offices and in presidential years. But beating Musgrove in a second-tier race could suck up still more resources that national Republicans simply don't have. On the other hand, if similar poll results continue to leak out of the state, perhaps the depth of the pit in which the GOP finds itself hasn't yet been reached.