The new survey of the Connecticut Senate from Public Policy Polling (D) race gives Democratic state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal a whopping 12-point lead over Republican former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon — a big change from other recent polls that have given Blumenthal a much closer edge.
The numbers: Blumenthal 53%, McMahon 41%. The survey of likely voters has a ±4% margin of error. This is the first PPP survey of this race since all the way back in January.
[TPM SLIDESHOW: Bringing The Smackdown: Linda McMahon’s Campaign For Senate, And Her Colorful Pro-Wrestling Past]
In addition, this poll gives Blumenthal a favorable rating of 53%, to 39% unfavorable, while McMahon’s is exactly the opposite at 39%-53%.
From the pollster’s analysis: “Blumenthal is the rare Democrat whose party is more unified than the GOP is, and who is not getting beaten badly with independents. He ties at 45% with unaffiliated, and is pulling 84% of his party to McMahon’s 79% of Republicans because the Democrat is getting 15% crossover support to McMahon’s 11%. With 41% of voters claiming to be Democrats, 31% independents, and only 28% Republicans, those advantages fuel Blumenthal’s healthy lead.”
The TPM Poll Average gives Blumenthal a lead of 50.2%-44.2%.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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