This from Quinnipiac University Polling Institute
BLUMENTHAL OPENS UP DOUBLE-DIGIT LEAD IN SENATE RACE,
QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY CONNECTICUT POLL FINDS;
INDEPENDENT VOTERS SHIFT BACK TO DEMOCRAT
Reversing a months-long decline in his lead in the Connecticut U.S. Senate race, Democratic State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has opened up a 54 – 43 percent likely voter lead over Republican former wrestling executive Linda McMahon, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
This compares to a 49 – 46 percent Blumenthal lead in a September 28 likely voter survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll.
In today’s survey, 3 percent are undecided and 7 percent of voters who name a candidate say they could change their mind by Election Day. Blumenthal leads 95 –4 percent among Democrats while McMahon leads 87 – 12 percent among Republicans.
Independent voters shift from 49 – 44 percent for McMahon September 28 to 49 – 44 percent for Blumenthal today. Women back Blumenthal 63 – 32 percent while men back McMahon 52 – 46 percent.
“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. While September wasn’t very good for Blumenthal, perhaps like Reggie Jackson, he could be called ‘Mr. October,’” said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, PhD.
“Fueled by a surge in support from women, Democrats and independents, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has his best poll numbers since the start of the fall campaign.”
“Linda McMahon may have peaked too soon and her advertising saturation could be causing ‘McMahon fatigue.’”
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Quinnipiac University Poll/October 14, 2010 – page 2
“Blumenthal is running stronger among Democrats than McMahon is running among Republicans. He is winning women by an overwhelming 31-point margin, while McMahon has struggled with women throughout the campaign. They have a negative image of her but like him by more than 2-1,” Dr. Schwartz added.
“With only three weeks left in the campaign, McMahon is down by 11 points with only 3 percent undecided. Even if she won all the undecided, she still would fall short. This has been a very unusual election year, however, so anything is possible.”
Likely voters approve 69 – 26 percent of the job Blumenthal is doing as attorney general and say 57 – 38 percent they have a favorable opinion of him.
McMahon gets a split 46 – 46 percent favorability.
First Lady Michelle Obama gets a 56 – 28 percent favorability rating, but only 5 percent of Connecticut likely voters say her campaigning for Blumenthal makes them more likely to vote for him. Another 19 percent say they are less likely and 76 percent say Michelle Obama’s involvement won’t affect their vote.
Connecticut likely voters give President Barack Obama a split 47 – 47 percent job approval rating.
From October 7 – 11, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,119 Connecticut likely voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percentage points.
The Quinnipiac University Poll conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and the nation as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed– http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter.