A new survey from a Democratic polling firm casts doubt on the conventional wisdom that West Virginia’s Senate special election will be a coronation for highly regarded Gov. Joe Manchin.

Public Policy Polling’s new survey, which was in the field Sept. 18-19, showed John Raese running ahead of Manchin, 46 percent to 43 percent.

The survey of 1,397 likely West Virginia voters had a 2.6-point margin of error.

Raese, a Republican businessman who has twice run for Senate, has built his campaign on tying Manchin to President Barack Obama, who is highly unpopular in the state.

The poll found that Manchin continues to have high approval ratings, but while Manchin has a 42 percent approval rating with Republicans, only 14 percent of them are planning to vote for him, according to PPP’s polling release. Raese also holds a 56 percent to 30 percent advantage with independents, and he leads 47 percent to 41 percent with Democrats who are dissatisfied with Obama, according to the release.

Raese’s newest ad describes the governor as a “rubber stamp” for the president.