OLYMPIA, Wash. (Legal Newsline)-Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna leads his Democratic challenger by seven points, a poll indicates.

McKenna-who is seeking a second, four-year term- leads Democrat John
Ladenburg 49 percent to 42 percent, according to a SurveyUSA poll released this week.

The poll found that 23 percent of Democrats will cross party lines to vote for McKenna, a popular Republican. Meanwhile, 11 percent of registered Republicans said they plan to support Ladenburg, the Pierce County executive.

The poll of 637 likely voters also showed that among men, college graduates, voters age 50 and older, and Asian Americans, McKenna leads in all subsets by more than 50 percent. Ladenburg has widespread support among black and Hispanics voters.

The poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points, indicates that nine percent of Washington voters are undecided in the AG race.

Ladenburg has criticized McKenna of using the attorney general's office to boost his public profile at the expense of the Evergreen State's most pressing problems.

"I think the attorney general's office needs to be there to protect the views of Washington State citizens on privacy and choice, and I just don't think the current attorney general is doing that - or would do that," he said in an interview with Legal Newsline.

Ladenburg has been endorsed by Gov. Christine Gregoire, a former three-term attorney general.

For his part, McKenna has stood by his record of reducing domestic violence, combating consumer fraud, addressing the methamphetamine scourge.

"We've accomplished a lot in my first term, and we have a lot more to do," McKenna told LNL in an earlier interview. "These problems did not arise overnight and they're not going to disappear overnight."

From Legal Newsline: Reach reporter Chris Rizo by e-mail at chrisrizo@legalnewsline.com.