Dem poll: Coffman trails Dem opponent by 11 in Colorado

Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), who’s in a tough reelection race, is trailing Democratic opponent Jason Crow by 11 points, according to a new poll from a Democratic outside group.

A poll conducted by Normington Petts for the group End Citizens United, which was shared first with The Hill, found Crow leading Coffman 49 percent to 38 percent. Thirteen percent of voters remain undecided.

While there’s been limited polling in Colorado’s 6th District, a recent public poll from The New York Times/Siena College found Crow, a former Army Ranger, similarly up by 11 points, 51 percent to 40 percent.

{mosads} End Citizens United, a campaign finance reform group, is backing a number of Democratic House candidates who oppose accepting donations from corporate political action committees.

The group previously commissioned a poll in Colorado’s 6th District back in July, which had Coffman narrowly ahead of Crow, 44 to 41 percent, with 15 percent of voters undecided.

In that July poll, Coffman was leading among independent voters, 39 to 35 percent. But in the September survey, Crow is ahead among independent voters, 44 to 27 percent.

For a few weeks in September, End Citizens United ran a million-dollar ad campaign targeting independent voters, accusing Coffman of being a career politician who’s bought by special interests and corporate PACs.

The group noted an August national poll conducted by Global Strategy Group, which found that political corruption is the top issue among independents.

The Democratic group’s poll also found a big swing in both candidates’ favorability ratings.

In July, Crow had a positive favorability rating, with 13 percent of voters who viewed him favorably compared to 10 percent who viewed him unfavorably. Two months later, that increased to 33-21 percent.

For Coffman, the End Citizens United poll from July had the GOP congressman with a favorability rating of 50-35 percent, but it fell to 38-44 percent in the September survey.

Coffman is one of the most vulnerable Republicans this cycle, defending a seat that Hillary Clinton won by nearly 9 points in 2016. The Cook Political Report recently shifted the race in Colorado’s 6th District from “toss-up” to “lean Democratic.”

Coffman has been in office since 2009 and has previously survived tough reelection races. Despite Clinton carrying his district, the Colorado Republican won reelection in 2016 by a similar margin.

Crow was part of a recruiting effort by national Democrats for more veterans to run for Congress. The Colorado Democrat served three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and served as a member of the Colorado Board of Veterans Affairs.

Monday’s poll was conducted from Sept. 18 to 23 and surveyed 400 likely voters in the 6th District via live interviews on landlines and cell phones. The margin of error was 4.9 percentage points.

Of the 400 voters polled, 34 percent identify as Democrats, 31 percent as Republicans and 35 percent as independents.