A new internal poll shows the crowded primary in Alabama’s open 6th District is wide open less than two months before the primary, according to information provided first to CQ Roll Call.  

The poll, conducted for GOP surgeon Chad Mathis’ campaign, found two of the six candidates in a statistical dead heat, with the third- and fourth-place contenders not far behind, and a large portion of respondents remain undecided. In the automated telephone  survey, Mathis and state Rep. Paul DeMarco received 16 percent and 15 percent of the vote, respectively. The poll had a margin of error of 4.6 percent.  

A third candidate, businessman Will Brooke, would receive 10 percent, followed by state Sen. Scott Beason with 9 percent, according to the poll. Nearly half, or 44 percent, of the electorate remains undecided less than two months before the June 3 primary, according to the poll, conducted by the firm, JMC Analytics .  

Mathis, DeMarco, Brooke, Beason, as well as social conservative activist Gary Palmer and businessman Tom Vigneulle, are all looking to succeed retiring Rep. Spencer Bachus in this Birmingham-based House seat.  

If no candidate garners at least 50 percent of the vote in the June 3 primary, the race will proceed to a July 15 runoff.  

The winner of the GOP nomination is all-but-certain to come to Congress in this strong GOP district.  The Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, carried the district by a 50-point margin in 2012.  

Alabama’s 6th District is rated a Safe Republican contest by Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call.