Republican takes lead in new Colorado Senate poll

DENVER, Colo. — Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) has taken a slight lead over Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) in a new independent survey of the Colorado Senate race.

The survey, conducted by SurveyUSA for the Denver Post, which has endorsed Gardner, gives him 45 percent support to Udall’s 43 percent support among likely voters. That aligns with a handful of other recent polls that have given Gardner a slight lead, but it marks a reversal of fortunes for Udall from the last Post poll, conducted about a month ago, which had Udall up by 4 percentage points.

That 2-point lead is still within the poll’s 4.1 percent margin of error. The survey was conducted Oct. 9-12.

{mosads}The two candidates are now tying independent voters, and Gardner’s cut Udall’s lead with women nearly in half, from 13 points in September to 7 points in the latest survey.

That’s despite Udall focusing heavily on wooing female voters in much of his campaign messaging, attacking Gardner as too extreme on women’s issues because of his previous support for measures that would restrict birth control and effectively ban abortion.

Gardner appears to be holding up against those attacks, while Udall’s popularity has taken a hit.

While voters were evenly split on the Republican last month, they now see him more positively, with 43 percent viewing him favorably and 38 percent viewing him unfavorably. In contrast, Udall’s negatives have surged, from a net negative 6 percent approval rating in September to a net negative 17 approval rating now. Fifty-three percent of respondents disapprove of the job he’s doing in the latest poll.

One of Udall’s biggest liabilities remains largely out of his hands: President Obama’s unpopularity this cycle. Two-thirds of likely voters say the president is a factor in how they plan to vote this fall, and 68 percent of those voters favor Republicans, suggesting his unpopularity is a significant driving force for GOP voters.

Another survey out this week, from High Point University, gave Gardner a 4-point lead on the senator.

But Democrats are still optimistic for their chances, touting an unprecedented investment in their ground game as their secret weapon this fall. Udall and Colorado Speaker Andrew Romanoff, who is challenging Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) in a top-targeted district this cycle, are scheduled to rally volunteers at a get-out-the-vote training event Monday night as the two races head into their final weeks.