A new (or perhaps not so new) poll in the Empire State is showing Democrat Scott Murphy closing the gap on Republican Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco.

Tedisco, the state Assembly minority leader, holds a 7-percentage-point lead over Murphy, a 39-year-old venture capitalist, according to the late February survey by the Benenson Strategy Group. The margin was 44 to 37 percent, with Libertarian Eric Sundwall at 4 percent, and 15 percent of voters undecided.The poll was paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

This poll was actually conducted between Feb. 24 – 25, so I’m not sure why we’re only getting the results released now. In any event, this shows a tightening from the 12 point lead Tedisco held in early February, with the Libertarian candidate holding steady at 4 points. Sundwall’s numbers appear to be coming mostly from Tedisco’s column, complicating the race.

The economy is rated as the top issue for voters by a wide margin, and Tedisco has been drawing criticism from his opponent for evading the question as to whether or not he would have voted in favor of the recent stimulous bill. (He later said that he would have voted for the bill, but only “with amendments.”) There are still at least two more debates to come, and twenty days left until the election, so it’s far too soon to call this one.