CO SEN POLL: Bennet and Norton tied at 43%. Romanoff leads Norton 44-39.

[jefferson_dem]

Colorado Senate tied

Our first look at the Colorado Senate race since last summer finds that Jane Norton's entry into the race has not helped Republican chances of defeating Michael Bennet- and may have even hurt their prospects. Bennet and Norton tie at 43% apiece. Bennet trailed Bob Beauprez 42-39 in August before Beauprez decided not to make the race.

Bennet continues to be pretty unpopular- but Norton is too. Bennet's approval rating is 32% with 46% of voters unhappy with his job performance. 25% of voters have a favorable opinion of Norton with 35% viewing her negatively.

In their head to head match Norton leads Bennet 44-35 with independents, but Bennet ties it overall because he has his party more unified around him (79% support) than Norton does hers (77% support.)

Andrew Romanoff actually leads Norton 44-39, reflecting other recent polling that has shown him doing better in general election matches than Bennet. I would be cautious about declaring Romanoff to be the more electable candidate based on these early numbers though. Bennet has had all the negatives of incumbency- being associated with an unpopular majority party during a recession- without the positives- defining himself positively to the voters on the airwaves in the context of a statewide campaign. If Romanoff is still doing better than Bennet four or five months from now once the voters have started really paying attention the electability argument might carry more heft.

Bennet and Romanoff both hold solid advantages over the lesser known Republican candidates. Bennet leads Ken Buck 46-40 and Romanoff leads him 44-36. Bennet has a 45-37 advantage over Tom Wiens and for Romanoff it's 45-34.

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http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2010/03/colorado-senate-tied.html

[Slit Skirt]

1. thanks for posting

I hope Romanoff takes it

[Jennicut]

2. Romanoff would be better but if Bennet is tied that is actually a good sign.

Somehow, I think no matter who is the Dem here, we can pull it out.

[NYC Democrat]

3. I think so too the all the recent polls on this race have shown the situation improving for us.

And we got a great sound bite of Norton calling social security a "ponzi Scheme" yesterday that ad just makes itself.

[DevonRex]

4. Our caucus to pick the candidate is on Tuesday. And I've been

going back and forth over which candidate to choose. This is the first time I've been undecided so late in the game.

Bennett was really disappointing at first but has gotten better as time went by. And his people have called me, at least. Not a peep from the Romanoff camp. Maybe it's because Bennett's campaign is better organized and has more money. On the other hand after what happened in Massachusetts I don't know if I can take a chance and believe that Romanoff will get it together if he's the nominee.

[DevonRex]

5. Interesting poll. Thank you. Good lord, I just don't know which one

to pick at this point.