Mike McGinn will take every point he can get.

The mayor picked up some badly need ground, according to a new poll that was taken after the first TV debate on King 5 last week.

The voters survey, which sampled 557 likley Seattle voters, still shows McGinn in an uphill battle. He continues to trail his challenger, state Sen. Ed Murry by a 20-point margin — 52 percent to 32 percent, with 15 percent undecided.

The poll had a margin of error of ± 4.2 percent.

Last month, the poll taken by SurveyUSA had Murray at 52 percent and McGinn at 30 percent.

Although both camps believe their man won the debate, it’s fair to say the debate results had little impact on the city’s electorate, as only 26 percent of those polled said they watched the Oct. 9 debate.

McGinn campaign consultant John Wyble says he believe the mayor is losing by only about 7 points, based on responses campaign volunteers are getting from thousands of telephone calls. The Murray people believe a 20-point margin is far too optimistic, but figure they are ahead by at least 10 to 12 points.

The election is three weeks from tomorrow.

In other mayoral campaign developments, leaders from the East African community in Seattle will endorse McGinn this morning during a press event at the mayor’s campaign headquarters on South Jackson Street. In attendance will be representatives from the city’s Tigray, Oromo, Eritrean, Somali and Ethiopian communities.