A new poll conducted by the Merriman River Group for CT Capitol Report finds that the U.S. Senate race is closer than other recent surveys have suggested.
The poll, released this afternoon, found that 52 percent of voters favor Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal while 44 percent back Republican Linda McMahon.
Though the margin is far closer than a Quinnipiac University survey released Tuesday that put Blumenthal's lead at 12 percentage points, McMahon continues to face a considerable uphill battle, Matthew Fitch, executive director of the poll, said.
"While individual polls have varied on the size of Blumenthal's lead, it has remained constant and comfortable in our survey since the beginning of October," Fitch said in a press release announcing the poll's findings. "It appears that McMahon has reached her maximum level of support, and her only chance of winning would seem to be a total collapse in Democratic turnout, particularly among women where she fares the worst.''
McMahon is especially unpopular with voters who have a post-graduate degree, a group that makes up a sizeable percentage of this highly educated state's population.
The McMahon campaign, ever optimistic, said the numbers indicate the race remains competitive.
"As we said earlier this week, this election remains extremely competitive, and once again, we believe the margin is even closer today than it was two days ago, according to our internal polling,'' McMahon spokesman Ed Patru said. "While today's CTCapitolReport poll confirms the race is tightening, our internal polling suggests an even more remarkable surge of momentum behind Linda, as a growing number of Independents and women are moving away from Dick Blumenthal."
The poll was conducted from October 24-26 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 percent.