NEW BRITAIN — In case you missed it, two Democratic contenders have officially entered the race to replace Sen. Joe Liberman, who announced last week he won’t seek reelection.

Former state Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz was the first. Then Rep. Chris Murphy released an announcement video last week, in which he pledges to respond to every single constituent phone call, e-mail, and note.

Today, the Murphy for Senate campaign released results from its first poll, which surveyed 500 people statewide Jan.3-5, 2011.

According to his own poll, he wins the race if election were held today.

Link to the polling memo (.pdf)

Murphy’s release states that in a two-way race with either Linda McMahon or Rob Simmons as the Republican candidate, Murphy is the frontrunner. Murphy currently has a 19 point lead over McMahon (54 percent to 35 percent) and a 12 point advantage over Simmons (46 percent to 34 percent).

Murphy is also well-positioned in a Democratic primary race against Susan Bysiewicz. In a head-to-head race among likely Democratic primary voters, Murphy has a solid 9 point lead over Bysiewicz, 40 percent to 31 percent, according to Murphy’s campaign manager, Kenny Curran.