Poll: Landrieu at new lows for reelection

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) posts her lowest level of support yet in a new poll of her tough reelection fight.

{mosads}The survey, from Louisiana-based bipartisan pollster Southern Media & Opinion Research, gives Landrieu just 36 percent support among likely voters to 35 percent support for Rep. Bill Cassidy (R). Retired Air Force colonel Rob Maness (R) takes 7 percent and state Rep. Paul Hollis (R) has 4 percent support. Seventeen percent are undecided.

It’s the lowest numbers she’s posted in any survey of the race yet, and it’s a drop of five points from Southern Media & Opinion Research’s last survey, conducted in November.

In Louisiana, all candidates appear on the ballot in November, regardless of party, and if no candidate tops 50 percent support the top two vote-getters head to a December runoff, an outcome expected this cycle.

Though the polling company has done work for candidates of both parties, their last survey of the race was reportedly financed by local GOP donor and businessman Lane Grigsby.

The last independent poll of the race, conducted in mid-April by The New York Times and the Kaiser Family Foundation, painted a much rosier picture for Landrieu, giving her 42 percent support to Cassidy’s 18 percent support, with more than a quarter of voters undecided.

The poll also shows her deeply underwater, nearing President Obama-levels of disapproval. Fifty-eight percent disapprove of her job performance, while 64 percent disapprove of the president’s. Only 39 percent of respondents view the incumbent positively.

Republicans pointed in particular to the fact that the poll shows that 59 percent of respondents said electing someone new was more important than keeping Landrieu, with her seniority and Energy Committee chairmanship, in office. Landrieu has touted that seniority as one of her main assets in the race, and National Republican Senatorial Committee spokeswoman Brook Hougesen said the poll indicates voters aren’t buying it.

“Mary Landrieu has been telling anyone who will listen how influential she is after being named Chairman of the Energy Committee, but it turns out that Landrieu isn’t influential at all and Louisiana voters realize that,” she said.

Landrieu is seen as one of this cycle’s most vulnerable Democrats, and her support has dropped precipitously over the past five months as she’s faced a barrage of attacks from outside groups focused largely on ObamaCare.

Her campaign manager, Adam Sullivan, dismissed the new polling and emphasized the senator’s work to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which is popular in the state.

“Sen. Landrieu has said from the beginning that this race will be tough, but she will win it just like she has every other Senate race. Polls will go up and down, but the one thing that remains the same is that she is focused on the issues that matter to Louisiana like creating high-paying energy jobs and building the Keystone pipeline,” he said.

The survey was conducted among 600 likely Louisiana voters from April 28-30 via both landline and cellphones, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

— This piece was updated on Friday to reflect comment from the NRSC.