Some mixed news today out of Colorado courtesy of Quinnipac:
http://www.9news.com/...
A new poll shows Senator Mark Udall in a tight race for re-election.
The Democratic Senator narrowly leads his possible Republican challengers in a Quinnipiac University Poll released Thursday. Colorado voters are evenly divided on whether Udall merits re-election.
Udall is running between two to five points ahead of the Republicans seeking their party's nomination to challenge him in November. - 9 News, 2/6/14
Here's some more details:
http://www.denverpost.com/...
With about nine months until the November midterm elections, U.S. Sen. Mark Udall remains in a near dead heat with Republican Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, according to a Quinnipiac poll released on Thursday.
In a head-to-head hypothetical match up, Udall is at 45 percent, while Buck — the party's 2010 nominee — is at 42 percent.
The poll surveyed about 1,100 Colorado voters and has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
Based on fundraising and name recognition, Buck is the party's front runner among a wide field of Republicans vying to unseat Udall that includes state Sens. Randy Baumgardner of Hot Sulphur Springs, Owen Hill of Colorado Springs and state Rep. Amy Stephens of Monument. The primary is June 24.
Stephens, who raised only $51,000 in the final quarter of last year and has a negative cash-on-hand balance, polls slightly closer to Udall in a head-to-head match up 41 percent to 43 percent.
In other hypothetical match ups, Udall also slightly outpaces his prospective challengers:
• Udall 43 percent to 41 percent for Baumgardner
• Udall 44 percent to 39 percent to Hill - Denver Post, 2/6/14
Some more details:
http://www.therepublic.com/...
"Mark Udall may be the front-runner, but he can hear the footsteps of three challengers, all within a few percentage points," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute.
Udall's woes could be linked to Colorado voters souring on President Obama. By a 59-37 margin, they disapprove of the president's performance, nearly the lowest marks for Obama in any Quinnipiac poll since his election. Obama's signature health care law, which Udall supported, is disliked by 60 percent of Colorado voters.
However, voters strongly approve of the president's two main goals — raising the minimum wage and granting citizenship to many of the 11 million people in the U.S. illegally. - The Republic, 2/6/14
But the news isn't all bad:
http://kdvr.com/...
Overall, 45 percent of Coloradans approve of Udall’s job performance, while 41 percent disapprove.
Udall, an outspoken critic of the NSA domestic surveillance program, has been knocked back on his heels a bit by the problem-plagued roll-out of Obamacare, which 60 percent of those polled oppose.
Republicans have charged that his office tried to pressure Colorado’s Dept. of Insurance to lower its estimated number of people whose policies were cancelled as a result of the new health care law being implemented, although a panel convened to investigate found no evidence of wrongdoing.
Last week, immediately following the State of the Union, Udall stumbled in an interview with CNN, unable to say whether he’d be interested in campaigning with President Obama this fall.
Udall, despite a rough few months of press, has nearly $5 million in the bank — and the luxury of a Republican field of would-be opponents all struggling to raise money and inspire confidence that they’ll be able to mount a serious challenge. - KDVR, 2/6/14
Given Colorado's purple tint, I can't say that I'm surprised this was going to be a tight race. But with Buck looking like the frontrunner, Udall still has a chance. Buck narrowly lost to Senator Michael Bennet (D. CO) in a bad year for Democrats but this year may not be as terrible as 2010. If you'd like to donate or get involved with Udall's campaign, you can do so here:
http://www.markudall.com/