New Quinnipiac Poll Shows Blumenthal Maintaining Wide Lead
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal (D) led former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon (R) in the Senate race, 54 percent to 37 percent, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Friday.
The survey of 1,367 registered voters was taken July 7-13 and had a margin of error of 2.7 points. It showed that Blumenthal had a 60 percent favorable rating despite a controversy over his military service during the Vietnam War that flared up in May. His unfavorable rating was 28 percent. McMahon, on the other hand, had a favorable rating of 43 percent and an unfavorable rating of 37 percent.
“Connecticut voters still trust Attorney General Richard Blumenthal despite the Vietnam controversy,” Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz said in a release. “While Blumenthal remains very popular, Linda McMahon’s favorability numbers are only slightly positive.”
McMahon won the party’s nod at the GOP nominating convention in May, but she still must win the August primary in order to officially be the party’s nominee.
McMahon has already put more than $20 million of her own money into the race and has said she plans to spend upward of $50 million.
Second-quarter fundraising reports filed Thursday show Blumenthal raising $1.6 million from April through June, and he began July with $2.1 million in cash on hand. McMahon had $3.2 million on hand after raising $19.8 million during the period — most of which was from her own pocket.
Another Quinnipiac poll found McMahon ahead of her two opponents in the Aug. 10 Republican primary. Fifty-two percent of 854 likely Republican primary voters said they would support her, while 25 percent preferred former Rep. Rob Simmons and 13 percent chose businessman Peter Schiff.
The first poll also showed Blumenthal with wide leads over Simmons and Schiff in hypothetical general election matchups.
“The people of Connecticut know Dick Blumenthal is going to stand up to the special interests and fight for them in Washington,” Blumenthal campaign manger Mindy Myers said in a statement. “Linda McMahon’s $20 million has already made this Connecticut’s most expensive Senate race, and this is the third poll to show barely a third of voters think she has the right experience to be a U.S. Senator and half think she doesn’t.”