It is hardly the size of the 41 point lead he enjoyed when he entered the race for U.S. Senate in January, but long-time Democratic state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal reclaims a double-digit lead over Republican Linda McMahon in this morning’s Quinnipiac University poll.
Blumenthal now leads McMahon by 54 to 43 percent among likely voters as opposed to the 49 to 46 percent results of an October 28 poll that had many Democrats worried the race was slipping away from a candidate once considered a shoe-in to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Dodd.
Three percent of the voters in this morning’s poll remain undecided and seven percent say they could change their minds in the two-and-a-half weeks left before election day.
Quinnipiac University Polling Director Douglas Schwartz in a statement said the results are good news for Blumenthal, who has faced an aggressive, self-funded ad blitz from McMahon portraying him as a lying career politician who knows nothing about job creation.
McMahon is the former CEO of the sometimes controversial Stamford-based World Wrestling Entertainment. She continues to face questions and criticism about sex and violence in the company’s programming, as well as the treatment of company employees who perform in front of or work behind the cameras.
“After Linda McMahon had climbed to within 3 points of Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, he has stopped her momentum and increased his lead by 8 points in two weeks,” Schwartz said. “Fueled by a surge in support from women, Democrats and independents, Blumenthal has his best polls numbers since the start of the fall campaign. Linda McMahon may have peaked too soon and her advertising saturation could be called McMahon fatigue.”
The entire poll can be found here.
McMahon and Blumenthal participated in the final of three televised debates on Tuesday night in New London.
The Quinnipiac Poll reflects Blumenthal’s widening lead in other recent polls released by CNN/Time, Rasmussen Reports, Fox News and the Connecticut Capitol Report website.