ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
   A new poll shows North Little Rock Democrat Bill Halter and Springdale Republican Jim Holt leading in their respective party’s primaries for lieutenant governor.
   Survey USA conducted the poll Saturday-Monday for the Little Rock station KTHV, Channel 11. The primary election is May 23.
   Among the 446 likely Democratic primary voters polled — resulting in a margin of error of 4.7 percent — 33 percent of the respondents said they would vote for Halter if the primary was held on the day they were contacted.
   Halter worked for the Social Security Administration in the Clinton administration,
   Fifteen percent of the respondents said they would vote for State Sen. Tim Wooldridge, D-Paragould, 14 percent for former State Rep. Mike Hathorn, D-Huntsville, and 7 percent for State Rep. Jay Martin, D-North Little Rock. Thirty-one percent said they’re undecided.
   So far, Halter, who quit the governor’s race a month ago to run for lieutenant governor, has been the only one of these candidates to run television ads.
   In a poll of 353 likely Republican primary voters — carrying a 5.2 percent margin of error — 59 percent of the respondents said they would vote for Holt, a state senator, if the primary were held on the day they were polled.
   Twelve percent said they would vote for former U.S. Attorney Chuck Banks of Little Rock and 7 percent for State Rep. Doug Matayo of Springdale.
   Twenty-two percent said they’re undecided.
   Holt is the only one of these candidates who has previously run for a statewide office. In 2004, he lost to U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, a Democrat from Little Rock.