Posted on 06/17/2010 6:45:40 AM PDT by iowamark
Republican John Boozman now holds a near two-to-one lead over Democratic incumbent Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas’ U.S. Senate race, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state.
Boozman earns 61% of the vote, while Lincoln, coming off her Democratic Primary runoff win last week, picks up 32% support. Four percent (4%) favor some other candidate in the race, while just three percent (3%) remain undecided.
Lincoln, who is seeking a third term in the Senate, was reelected in 2004 with 56% of the vote. But she has been struggling politically at home since late last year following her procedural vote that kept the national health care bill alive in the Senate.
Voters in Arkansas have consistently opposed the health care bill more strongly than voters in much of the rest of the country. Sixty-five percent (65%) of voters in the state now favor repeal of the health care bill, while 30% oppose repeal. This includes 57% who Strongly Favor repeal and 20% who are Strongly Opposed.
Eighty-nine percent (89%) of the much-larger group that Strongly Favors repeal support Boozman, a U.S. congressman who, like all Republicans, voted against the health care bill. Sixty-two percent (62%) of those who Strongly Oppose repeal back Lincoln.
In match-ups since Boozman entered the race in February, support for Lincoln has ranged from 29% to 36%. Boozman has earned 51% to 57% of the vote in those same surveys.
The survey of 500 Likely Voters in Arkansas was conducted on June 15, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Lincoln emerged victorious from a primary challenge from Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter who attacked her from the political left and was heavily supported by national labor unions and major liberal organizations. She narrowly defeated Halter in a runoff last week but appears not to have received the electoral bounce that is common after such victories.
Voters not affiliated with either major party now favor Boozman by a 79% to 15% margin.
Ten percent (10%) of all Arkansas voters now have a Very favorable opinion of Lincoln, while 37% view her Very Unfavorably.
Boozman is viewed Very Favorably by 26% and Very Unfavorably by 12%.
Both candidates are well-known in the state, but 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.
Sixty-five percent (65%) of Arkansas voters favor offshore oil drilling, well above findings nationally. But 73% agree that the ongoing Gulf oil leak will have a devastating or major long-term impact on the environment.
Seventy-seven percent (77%) say the companies involving in drilling on the leak site should pay for the cleanup, but 20% more think the government should help with cleanup costs, too.
Thirty-two percent (32%) rate President Obama’s handling of the war in Afghanistan as good or excellent. Thirty-two percent (32%) also say he’s doing a poor job.
Voters in Arkansas are evenly divided over whether the United States can win the war in Afghanistan.
Thirty-eight percent (38%) of voters in the state now approve of the job Obama is doing as president, while 61% disapprove. This marks little change from recent surveys in the state and represents a higher level of criticism than Obama experiences nationally in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.
Rasmussen Reports has recently surveyed Senate races in Arizona, Alabama, Nevada, Pennsylvania, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Iowa, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Idaho and Hawaii.
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Do you know anything about Jim Keet who is running for governor? I have a relative who thinks he would be good. I had never heard of him until then.
Less than six months to go to E-Day and it can’t come soon enough. We all need to work, donate, sweat, and vote to insure a great day in November. I sure would like to see the effete snob media crying in their beer.
I like those numbers.
Alaska ?
Boozman is a long-time family acquaintance. He is anything but inspiring on the stump, and he DID vote for TARP. A lot of people have never forgiven him that.
This IS Arkansas, after all, and folks from the NW here have their work cut out for them in statewide races. The rest of the state resents our prosperity, even though we support them.
Easy re-election for Mike Beebe-he’s very popular, even among Republicans.
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