Some mixed news today out of Colorado courtesy of PPP:
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/...
PPP's new Colorado poll finds the exact same numbers in the races for both Governor and the Senate- Democratic incumbents John Hickenlooper and Mark Udall are clinging to 44/43 leads over their challengers Bob Beauprez and Cory Gardner respectively.
In the Governor's race this represents a significant tightening over the last four months. In March we had found Hickenlooper leading Beauprez 48/38. Since that time though Hickenlooper's approval rating has dropped a net 10 points, from 48/41 then to now 43/46. And Beauprez's net favorability has improved 14 points from 20/33 then to now 31/30. That movement's come largely among Republicans- he's gone from 33/22 to 57/12 within his own party as it's unified in the wake of last month's primary.
The closeness in the Senate race is nothing new though. Our last four polls have found Udall with leads of 2, 2, 4, and now 1 point. This is shaping up as yet another key Senate contest this year where the early blitz of negative advertising has left both candidates unpopular. Udall has an upside down approval rating at 36/47, but Gardner's not a whole lot more well liked with 34% of voters rating him favorably to 39% who have a negative opinion.
Things are looking pretty good for Republicans down the rest of the ballot. They hold leads of 8-10 points in the races for Secretary of State, Attorney General, and State Treasurer. Wayne Williams leads Joe Neguse 35/27 for Secretary of State, Cynthia Coffman has a 38/29 advantage over Don Quick for Attorney General, and Walker Stapleton is up 43/33 on Betsy Markey for State Treasurer. The high level of undecideds in all of those races leaves the Democrats with room to grow but for now the GOP candidates are very well positioned. - PPP, 7/22/14
While things might be looking good for the GOP right now, there's one thing that could hurt Cory Gardner:
The personhood movement is back for another try in Colorado this year but looks to be headed for another defeat with 45% of voters already opposed to this year's attempt at an amendment compared to only 40% who support it. Those numbers start out close, but historically personhood amendments have done worse and worse in the polls as the election has neared and voters have become more aware of their implications. So one that's behind in the polls even more than three months out from the election is not likely headed for a positive fate. - PPP, 7/22/14
Gardner has flip flopped a lot on this issue and Udall's been doing a great job reminding voters about Gardner's support. Tough fights ahead of us here but it's far from over. Click here to donate and get involved with Udall and Hickenlooper's campaigns:
http://markudall.com/
http://www.hickenlooperforcolorado.com/