New polling from the Democratic Governors Association finds New Mexico Lt. Gov. Diane Denish leading two potential Republican opponents in next year's race for governor.

Denish leads two former Republican members of Congress, Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce, both by a 57%-35% margin with 8% undecided.

Denish had been poised to take over the governorship for Bill Richardson before he withdrew his nomination for U.S. Commerce Secretary, but she now must wait to succeed the term-limited governor.

Pearce and Wilson both gave up their House seats last year and ran unsuccessful campaigns for the Senate -- Pearce defeated Wilson in the GOP primary, then lost the general election by 22 points to Tom Udall. Both of their former House districts were won by a Democrat.

The survey, conducted by Harstad Strategic Research, included 613 likely voters from May 31 to June 4, with a margin of error of +/- 4%.