Eric Kleefeld October 15, 2010, 12:31 PM

The new Rasmussen poll of the Delaware Senate race gives Democrat Chris Coons a consistent and significant-sized lead over Republican Christine O’Donnell, albeit by a slightly smaller margin than some other firms have shown.

The numbers: Coons 51%, O’Donnell 40%. The survey of likely voters has a ±4.5% margin of error. In the previous Rasmussen poll from three weeks ago, Coons had 49% and O’Donnell had 40%, plus 5% for Congressman Mike Castle, who was considering a write-in bid after he lost the Republican primary to O’Donnell. (Castle eventually decided against it.)

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Christine O’Donnell: Anti-Masturbation Crusader. Witchcraft Dabbler. Republican Senate Nominee.]

The TPM Poll Average gives Coons a lead of 55.5%-37.2%.

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