Blumenthal holds wide lead in Connecticut Senate race: poll

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is leading Republican contender Leora Levy by 13 percentage points, according to a new Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey released Wednesday.

The poll found that 49 percent of likely voters in the state said they would vote for Blumenthal if the election for Senate was held today, in comparison to Levy, who received 36 percent support.

Five percent said they would vote for someone else, while 11 percent said they were undecided.

The poll also found that while 38 percent said they had “very” or “somewhat favorable” view of Levy, another 29 percent said they had a “very” or “somewhat unfavorable” view of the Republican contender.

Thirty-four percent said they were unsure or had never heard of her, suggesting Levy’s still somewhat unknown to voters just eight weeks out from November.

Fifty-three percent of respondents said they held a favorable view of Blumenthal, compared to 42 percent who said they had an unfavorable view of him.

Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said that the Democratic incumbent had an edge with older voters and female voters.

“A majority of voters over 50 plan to support Blumenthal, however voters under 50 are more split. Voters under 35 break for Blumenthal over Levy 40% to 31%, while 15% plan to support someone else. Levy has an edge among voters between 35 and 49, leading Blumenthal 40% to 39%,” he said. 

“We continue to see a gender divide in the midterm elections in Connecticut as women voters break for Blumenthal by 25 points and Lamont by 19, whereas the race among male voters is much tighter: men support Blumenthal by one and Lamont by three,” Kimball added.

The Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey was conducted Sept. 7-9 with 1,000 somewhat or very likely voters. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.