RENO -- Democrat Jack Carter faces an uphill battle if he hopes to unseat Republican incumbent John Ensign in Nevada's U.S. Senate race, according to a new poll.

The poll sponsored by the Reno Gazette-Journal and KRNV-TV showed Ensign leading Carter 56 percent to 35 percent, with only 9 percent of voters undecided.

The poll of 600 Nevadans who vote regularly in state elections has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Carter is the son of former President Carter. This is his first bid for elected office. He and his wife, Elizabeth, moved to Nevada in 2002.

Ensign was elected to the Senate in 2000 and is seeking a second term.

Chris Wicker, chairman of the Washoe County Democratic Party, said the results were disappointing.

"You have to remember that Carter started from way back. He's a novice who is running against an incumbent. I would like to see his numbers higher," Wicker said.

"There is still time to drive those numbers up, but it looks like an uphill battle."

Carter's campaign is banking on the premise that many Nevadans are growing tired of the Bush administration. It likes to point out that Ensign has voted with the Bush administration at least 96 percent of the time during his first four years in office, according to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee report.

Some GOP leaders are confident that Carter has no chance of unseating Ensign, who if re-elected will by be vying for a Senate leadership position.

"There is a better chance that Jimmy Carter will be elected president than Jack Carter has to be elected to the U.S. Senate," said Pete Ernaut of Reno, president of public affairs for R & R Partners, a former Republican assemblyman and former chief of staff for Gov. Kenny Guinn.