Poll: Democratic incumbent Donnelly holds slim lead in Indiana Senate race

Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) holds a slim 2 point lead, which is a statistical dead heat, over Republican challenger Mike Braun ahead of November’s midterm, according to a new poll.

Donnelly has the support of 43 percent of registered voters, while 41 percent of registered voters back Braun, according to a Fox News poll released Thursday. Donnelly’s 2-point advantage is within the poll’s margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

Another six percent of voters said they support libertarian candidate Lucy Brenton, the poll found.

{mosads}Donnelly is polling slightly better than he did in the same poll from early September, which found Braun held a two-point advantage.

Braun, who is backed by President Trump, is a businessman and a former state representative in Indiana.

Donnelly is one of ten Senate Democrats facing reelection in states President Trump won in 2016. Trump took Indiana by nearly 20 points over Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the race as a “toss-up.”

The seat is a crucial one if Democrats hope to take the majority in the Upper Chamber. They would have to defend their seats as well as poach two from the Republicans to flip the current 51-49 GOP advantage to their favor.

The Fox News poll also found that the majority of registered voters in Indiana approve of Trump’s performance as president, with 52 percent saying they approve and 46 percent saying they disapprove. Those numbers are in line with the results from the poll published in early September. 

The poll’s results were based on interviews with 806 registered voters in Indiana from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2.