U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy and Linda McMahon widened their leads in their U.S. Senate primary races, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.
In the Democratic Senate primary, Murphy leads former Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz 50 percent to 20 percent, compared to a 37 percent to 25 percent lead in mid-March.
Former World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. CEO McMahon is ahead of former U.S. Rep. Chris Shays 59 percent to 30 percent for the Republican primary, compared to a 51 percent to 42 percent lead in March.
Quinnipiac polled just over 1,400 registered voters between May 29 and June 3, and assigned a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.
McMahon tightened the gap with Murphy, who leads McMahon by a 46-43 margin compared to a commanding 52-37 lead in March. Any McMahon-Murphy matchup features a reverse gender gap, Quinnipiac noted, with men backing McMahon 48-44 percent and women for Murphy by a 47-38 percent margin.
“It is hard to see how Shays can overcome such a large lead by primary day August 14,” said Douglas Schwartz, director of the Quinnipiac Poll, in a prepared statement. “With Republicans needing to pick up only four seats to win control of the U.S. Senate, the national spotlight could turn on this competitive Senate race to fill Sen. Joe Lieberman”™s seat.”
President Barack Obama gets a 53 percent approval rating among Connecticut voters, according to Quinnipiac, with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney”™s own favorability rating at just 34 percent in Connecticut.
Connecticut voters disapprove by a 47-44 percent margin of the job Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is doing. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal received a 61 percent approval rating.
The poll was completed before new federal data released Wednesday that showed Connecticut with the second best economic growth in the East last year, and among the top 10 states nationally.
