Some news out of Arkansas courtesy of PPP. First some encouraging news:
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/...
PPP's new Arkansas poll finds the Senate race continues to be extremely close, with Mark Pryor leading Tom Cotton 43/42. That is basically unchanged from our last poll of the state in December, which found the candidates knotted at 44%. The early flurry of negative ads in the contest has left both candidates unpopular, with Pryor sporting a 38/46 approval rating and Cotton at a 37/42 favorability. To some extent this is shaping up for voters as a 'lesser of two evils' choice.
One thing hanging over this contest is Barack Obama's unpopularity in the state. Only 33% of voters approve of the job he's doing to 61% who disapprove, and among voters who are undecided in the Senate race Obama's numbers are even worse at a 13/74 spread. Voters disliking Obama isn't a total dealbreaker for Pryor- right now he's winning 16% of those folks and another 19% are undecided- but he'll definitely have to pick up a lot of those folks to win this fall.
Now some bad news regarding another big race this year:
In contrast to the Senate race, voters like both of their major choices for Governor. Asa Hutchinson has a 40/33 favorability rating, and Mike Ross registers at 37/29. Hutchinson has opened up a 46/38 lead in our poll, although most recent surveys show the race much closer. Ross would have a 43/33 advantage over Hutchinson's primary challenger, Curtis Coleman. But it doesn't look like Hutchinson has a ton to worry about in the primary- he leads Coleman 62/23, including a 67/23 advantage with voters who identify themselves as 'very conservative.'
Tim Griffin appears to be in pretty good shape for both the primary and the general election in his quest to move from the US House to Lieutenant Governor. In the primary Griffin's at 39% to 19% for Andy Mayberry and 8% for Debra Hobbs. With 34% of voters still undecided that puts Griffin in a pretty good position to reach the 50% mark in the primary. Griffin also starts out with a 39/30 lead over Democratic foe John Burkhalter for the general election. - PPP, 4/29/14
While PPP's poll pretty much tells us what we've all known about the Senate race, the numbers for the Governor's race are alarming. PPP at least acknowledges other polls show the race tighter but this confirms we have our work cut out. If you want to donate and get involved with Pryor and Ross' campaigns, you can do so here:
http://pryorforsenate.com/
http://www.mikeross.com/