Colorado Senate poll shows dead heat

Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) is virtually tied in his reelection race against Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday. 

Forty-four percent of Colorado voters back Gardner and 42 percent support Udall. Ten percent said they are undecided.

An April Quinnipiac survey found Udall received 45 percent support to Gardner’s 44 percent. 

The new poll found Udall leads 86 percent to 5 percent among Democrats; 85 percent of Republicans back Gardner. Forty-three percent of independents support Udall; 40 percent support Gardner.

{mosads}Nearly half of voters said Udall doesn’t deserve to be reelected compared to 40 percent who said he deserves another six-year term.

Colorado voters give Udall a negative 42 percent to 46 percent job approval rating, which Quinnipiac said is his lowest net approval ever.

Forty percent said Udall is too liberal, 7 percent said he’s too conservative and 40 percent said he’s “about right.” Just under a third said Gardner is too conservative, 7 percent said he’s too liberal and 37 percent said he’s “about right.”

The survey found between 35 percent and 46 percent said Gardner would do better on jobs and the economy than Udall. On other issues, 38 percent to 40 percent said Gardner would handle immigration better. They are tied at 41 percent on who would handle ObamaCare better. They are also tied on the minimum wage. Forty-six percent, however, said Gardner would do better on gun control compared to Udall’s 33 percent.

The survey comes just two days after an NBC News/Marist poll indicated Udall is leading in the race with 48 percent support compared to Gardner’s 41 percent. 

The poll surveyed 1,147 registered voters from July 10 to 14 with a 2.9 percentage point margin of error.