Democrat Chris Coons holds a double-digit lead over Republican hopeful Christine O’Donnell in the first Rasmussen Reports post-primary survey of the U.S. Senate race in Delaware.
Coons earns 53% of the vote to O’Donnell’s 42%, with leaners included. One percent (1%) prefer some other candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided.
The Delaware race is now viewed as Solid Democrat in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Senate Balance of Power rankings.
This marks a remarkable turnaround in a race that at the beginning of the month was rated Solid Republican and was on track to be a GOP pickup. At that time, Congressman Mike Castle led Coons as he had been leading all year. O’Donnell trailed Coons at that time 47% to 36%.
But O’Donnell, a conservative activist picking up endorsements from Sarah Palin and South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint and riding a Tea Party wave of opposition, upset the more moderate Castle in Tuesday’s state Republican Primary. Her victory highlights the voter anger sweeping the nation this year. That anger is described in a new book by Scott Rasmussen and Doug Schoen, Mad as Hell: How the Tea Party Movement is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two Party System.
An excerpt from the book, One Nation Under Revolt was published yesterday in the wake of O’Donnell’s victory.
If leaners are not included, Coons, the elected executive of the state’s largest county, posts a 51% to 40% lead over O’Donnell. Leaners are those who initially indicate no preference for either of the candidates but answer a follow-up question and say they are leaning towards a particular candidate. From this point forward, Rasmussen Reports considers results with leaners the primary indicator of the race.
Coons led O’Donnell 46% to 36% in a survey in August, but a month earlier the two were in a virtual tie.
Seventy-one percent (71%) of Delaware Republicans now support O’Donnell after the party’s divisive primary, while Coons picks up 84% of the state’s Democratic voters. Voters not affiliated with either major party prefer O’Donnell by eight points.
Seventy-eight percent (78%) of Coons voters say they are already certain how they will vote in November, while just 68% of O’Donnell’s supporters say the same.
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The survey of 500 Likely Voters in Delaware was conducted on September 15, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
The seat at stake was formerly held by Vice President Joe Biden who resigned following the November 2008 elections. His chief of staff, Ted Kaufman, was named to the seat by the state’s Democratic governor but has opted not to seek a full term. Coons jumped into the race after Biden’s son, state Attorney General Beau Biden, chose not to run against Castle, a popular longtime congressman.
Coons is viewed favorably by 58% of Delaware voters and unfavorably by 34%. This includes 22% with a Very Favorable view of him and 14% with a Very Unfavorable one.
Forty-two percent (42%) have a favorable opinion of O’Donnell, including 20% Very Favorable. Fifty-four percent (54%) regard her unfavorably, with 38% Very Unfavorable.
Both candidates are well-known in the state.
Many analysts say O’Donnell faces a tough challenge in a state whose electorate is predominantly moderate. While a majority of Delaware voters, for example, favor repeal of the national health care bill and passage of an immigration law like Arizona’s in their own state, that support is lower than is found nationally.
Those who Strongly Favor repeal of the health care bill support O’Donnell. Coons earns even stronger support from those who are Strongly Opposed to repeal.
Delaware voters, unlike voters nationwide, trust Democrats slightly more than Republicans when it comes to both the economy and health care.
Fifty-two percent (52%) favor President Obama’s proposed new $50 billion federal jobs program aimed at fixing up transportation infrastructure, compared to 40% of voters nationally.
Still, 62% say cutting taxes is a better way to create jobs than increasing government spending. Only 18% say increased spending is a better job-creator.
Fifty-four percent (54%) of voters in the state approve of the job President Obama is doing, while 43% disapprove. This is higher job approval than the president earns nationally in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.
Sixty-two percent (62%) approve of Democratic Governor Jack Markell’s job performance, while 35% disapprove.
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Rasmussen Reports has recently surveyed Senate races in Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Poster Comment:
How to lose an election in one day.
