Home > Archives > Election Insider

Bennet in Primary Trouble

March 16, 2010    Content provided by DDC Advocacy

A newly-released portion of the latest Colorado Public Policy Polling survey (3/5-8; 451 likely CO Democratic primary voters) reveals concrete warning signs for appointed Sen. Michael Bennet (D). According to the data, former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff is already running close to Bennet among Democratic primary voters. Earlier it was noted that he is stronger than the interim incumbent against the Republican candidates. The new information shows Romanoff trailing Sen. Bennet only 34-40% among decided Democrats. Bennet has been performing very well on the fundraising circuit, outraising Romanoff $4.8 million to $630,000 for the 2009 year-end financial disclosure report, but so far this advantage is not translating into positive support among prospective voters. Bennet's job approval rating among the sampled Democrats is 57:21% favorable to unfavorable. Romanoff scores 45:15%.

In the Republican primary (497 registered GOP voters), former Lt. Governor Jane Norton enjoys a 34-17-7% advantage over Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck and state Sen. Tom Wiens. Bennet ties Norton at 43%, while Romanoff leads her 44-39% in the general election pairings from the same poll. Both Bennet and Romanoff lead the other two Republicans by similar margins, all beyond the margin of polling error.