The entry of Tom Tancredo into the Colorado gubernatorial contest appears to have significantly bolstered the odds of Democrat John Hickenlooper winning the race, a Rasmussen Reports survey found this week.

At the same time the Tancredo candidacy also seems to have deeply cut into the chances of either Republican candidate — Dan Maes and Scott McInnis — emerging victorious in the November general election.

The survey showed Hickenlooper with 43 percent of the vote in a presumed match-up with McInnis and Tancredo. McInnis picked up 25 percent of the vote, while Tancredo got 24 percent. Five percent of the voters polled claimed undecided status.

Hickenlooper received 42 percent of the vote in a presumed contest with Maes and Tancredo. Maes picked up 27 percent of the vote, while Tancredo's figure stayed the same at 24 percent. Five percent of the voters polled said they were undecided.

“Tancredo peels away one-third of the GOP vote no matter which Republican candidate he faces,” the survey noted. “Hickenlooper and Tancredo each pick up about one-third of voters not affiliated with either major party, while McInnis and Maes earn about 20 (percent) of that vote.”

The survey of 750 likely voters was conducted Aug. 2, or six days after American Constitution Party candidate Tancredo filed campaign paperwork with the Secretary of State's Office. The survey carries a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points, pollsters said.

The polling numbers for Hickenlooper, who serves as the mayor of Denver, were down from a Rasmussen Reports survey last month, which matched him up with McInnis and Maes in separate polls.

In those polls he picked up 45 percent of the vote against McInnis, and 46 percent of the vote against Maes. McInnis and Maes received 43 percent of the vote, respectively, the surveys found.

— Wyatt Haupt Jr.