BY SARAH ROSS

PORTLAND- A new poll released on Tuesday continues to show this year’s gubernatorial race to be a close one, despite fundraising efforts telling a different story.

Rasmussen Reports, the firm conducting the poll, stated, “Little has changed in the race to be Oregon’s next governor, with Republican Chris Dudley and Democrat John Kitzhaber still running neck-and-neck.”

The poll puts Dudley just three points ahead of Kitzhaber with 47 percent to 44 percent. Five percent of respondents preferred another candidate, and 4 percent are undecided.

With only a three percent difference, the results fall well within the poll’s +/- 4 percent margin of error. The campaign fundraising, however, is not as close as polling on the race has been.

Kitzhaber, the former statesman and Oregon governor, has raised $1,334,001 so far in 2010, while former professional basketball player Dudley has raised a whopping $2,210,664 in this election cycle.

As of July 28, The Cook Political Report still classified the race as leaning Democratic, meaning it is in the category of races considered competitive but where one party has an advantage.

Senior Editor at the Cook Report Jennifer Duffy said the race is a good example of an outsider attempting to take on an established politician.

“It’s one of five in the country where you have a former governor seeking his old job back, which is kind of interesting considering how tough it is to be governor these days,” said Duffy, adding that it should be a “good race.”

Duffy noted that while it is currently listed as a lean-Democrat state, implying that party has a small advantage, it could be moving into the more competitive section.

“It would not surprise me if sometime over the next couple of months I move it into toss-up,” she said.

She also mentioned that this kind of movement happens all the time and that this race alone is a good example, since it started as a likely Democratic state and has since moved to leaning Democratic.

When asked what factors go into determining how a race is moved from one category to another, she said that fundraising and good polling are the biggest things to consider.

“I got sort of a first answer when I saw their fundraising numbers. So obviously Dudley is proving he can raise money,” she said. “I’d like to see some good polling because the polling that I have seen has left something to be desired. They do show a single digit race, but I’d like to see a live interview poll. And so that will be the other factor.”