Democrats Face Uphill Climb To Keep Biden's Senate Seat

A pair of new polls show that Republicans have the momentum to seize Vice President Biden's seat in the Senate this November. Both polls, one by Rasmussen and the other by Research 2000 (for DailyKos), show Rep. Mike Castle (R) with a big lead over Democratic candidate Chris Coons, who stepped into the contest after Biden's son Beau bowed out.

Castle leads Coons 53-32 in the Rasmussen poll, which was released yesterday. The DailyKos numbers show Castle ahead 53-35. But despite the deep hole he remains in, there are signs that Coons is making up some ground.

In the last Rasmussen poll of a Castle-Coons matchup, taken shortly after Beau Biden decided not to run Jan. 25, Coons was down to Castle by 29 points. That poll showed Castle ahead 56-27. Today's Rasmussen poll shows Coons has narrowed the gap to a still-daunting 21 points in just about a month.

Biden was much closer to Castle in a hypothetical matchup of the pair, though he still trailed 47-42 in a poll taken late last year. Biden's decision to not to run forced Democrats to scramble to find a replacement candidate to hang on to the Senate seat held by the Vice President since 1973.