Third-party candidate Doug Hoffman's place in the race gets reinforced today, as a new Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll finds the Conservative Party nominee in a statistical tie for the lead in the special election for New York's 23rd District.

The only other polls that had shown him ahead of the GOP nominee were released by conservative groups who publicly support him.

Hoffman has won the backing of national Republicans, such as Sarah Palin and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, and leads Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava by 11 points. He trails Owens by just 1 point, putting him well within the margin of error and in a strong position to replace former congressman John McHugh (R-N.Y.).

The new survey also shows a huge change since the Kos/R2000 survey out last week, in which Scozzafava led Hoffman by 7 points.

Owens 33 (-2 vs. last poll, Oct. 22)
Hoffman 32 (+9)
Scozzafava 21 (-9)
Und 14

The special election will be held Nov. 3. The survey was conducted Oct. 26-28 of 600 likely voters with a margin of error of +/- 4%.