The first Rasmussen Reports post-primary telephone survey of Likely Voters in Colorado shows a close U.S. Senate race between Republican challenger Ken Buck and incumbent Democratic Senator Michael Bennet.Buck attracts 46% support, while Bennet picks up 41% of the vote. Five percent (5%) prefer some other candidate in the race, and seven percent (7%) remain undecided.
Both men won hotly contested party primaries on Tuesday, but Colorado Republicans appear to have come back together a bit quicker than Democrats. Buck now gets 88% support from GOP voters, while 79% of Democrats support Bennet. The Republican leads by just five points among voters not affiliated with either party.
These results are similar to those from before the primary.
Bennet was the Denver school superintendent who was named to the Senate early last year when Ken Salazar resigned to join President Obama’s Cabinet. A county prosecutor, Buck has consistently led Bennet in matchups back to March, capturing 44% to 48% of the vote. Bennet in those same surveys has earned 38% to 42% support.
Colorado is one of several Toss-Up states in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Senate Balance of Power rankings.
Voters in the state have a pessimistic view of the economy. Just four percent (4%) rate the economy as good, while 65% describe it as poor. Twenty-five percent (25%) say the economy is getting better, but twice as many (50%) say it’s getting worse.
Eighty-one percent (81%) of those who think the economy is improving support Bennet. Sixty-six percent (66%) of those who say it’s getting worse back Buck.
Seventy-six percent (76%) of all voters in the state say the United States is in a recession.
Voters nationally now blame President Obama’s policies just as much as President Bush’s for the nation’s current economic problems.
The survey of 750 Likely Voters in Colorado was conducted on August 11, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/-4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Additional data from the survey will be released over the coming week at RasmussenReports.com/Colorado.
Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Colorado voters oppose the requirement in the new national health care law that every American must buy or obtain health insurance. Forty percent (40%) favor the requirement. This includes 25% who Strongly Favor it and 49% who are Strongly Opposed.
Bennet gets 83% support from voters who Strongly Favor the requirement. Seventy-seven percent (77%) of those who are Strongly Opposed support Buck.
Buck is viewed Very Favorably by 17% of Colorado voters and Very Unfavorably by 20%.
Twenty percent (20%) have a Very Favorable opinion of Bennet, while 29% regard him Very Unfavorably.
At this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with a strong opinion more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers.
Forty-seven percent (47%) of Colorado voters approve of the job the president is doing, up five points from the previous survey. Fifty-two percent (52%) disapprove. This is higher job approval than Obama earns nationally in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.
Nationally, most voters think President Obama is more liberal than they are.
