With less than six months to go before they meet in a Senate special election, Sen. Roger Wicker (R) was trailing former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove (D) by 8 points in a new poll conducted for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

The poll of 600 likely voters, which was conducted by Hamilton Campaigns, gave Musgrove 48 percent to Wicker’s 40 percent.

Wicker, a former Congressman who was appointed to his Senate post in January following the retirement of former Sen. Trent Lott (R), hails from the northern Mississippi House district that Democrats picked up in a much-hyped special election last week.

The new DSCC survey was taken in the days after that race, from May 15-18, and had a margin of error of 4 points.

DSCC spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement Tuesday that Wicker “couldn’t keep his own Congressional district from changing hands, and now he’s trailing in his bid for the Senate. Last week, Mississippi voters showed they are tired of business as usual in Washington and ready for a change, and this poll shows that they are ready for a new Senator to replace Roger Wicker.”

— John McArdle