Outgoing Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz leads the Florida professor hoping to unseat her by 8 points less than a month before primary day.
{mosads}Tim Canova’s campaign released the poll Sunday that found Wasserman Schultz with 46 percent support compared to his 38 percent. A full 16 percent of Democratic primary voters are undecided, leaving room for Canova to close the gap or for Wasserman Schultz to put the race away.
The incumbent congresswoman sports a 52 percent favorability rating, while 35 percent view her unfavorably. The majority of voters have no opinion about Canova, with 32 percent viewing him favorably and 8 percent viewing him unfavorably.
Wasserman Schultz has been under fire from progressive Democrats, particularly who supported Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in his Democratic presidential primary, over accusations she and the DNC worked to undermine his bid in favor of Hillary Clinton.
That criticism mounted late last month with the release of hacked DNC emails that showed top party staffers pushing critical narratives of Sanders. Wasserman Schultz resigned amid blowback from those emails.
Even though she’s stepped down, Sanders supporters are looking to deliver one final blow to the former chairwoman by denying her reelection. Canova told The Hill that he’s talking with Sanders about joining him on the campaign trail, although the senator has not yet agreed. The advertising firm responsible for Sanders’s primary television ads also signed onto Canova’s campaign last week.