Colorado Politics

Democrats Bennet, Polis up by double digits over GOP challengers in Colorado, new poll shows

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis lead their Republican challengers by double digits in the Democrats’ bids for reelection a month before voting begins, a nonpartisan poll released Thursday shows.

Bennet, who is seeking a third full term, is running 10 points ahead of GOP nominee Joe O’Dea, while Polis holds a 17-point lead over Heidi Ganahl, the Republican hoping to deny the governor a second term, the Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey of very likely voters found.

The results are in line with most publicly released polling in the races, undercutting Republican arguments that the Democratic-leaning state is up for grabs in this year’s midterms, when the party in power typically suffers big losses.

Bennet leads O’Dea, a construction company owner, 46% to 36%, with 14% undecided and 4% saying they’ll vote for someone else, pollsters said.

Polis has 53% support to Ganahl’s 36%. Just 9% say they’re undecided and 2% say they plan to vote for someone else.

Pollsters surveyed 1,000 registered voters in Colorado on Sept. 18 and 19. The poll has a credibility interval – similar to a margin of error – of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Emerson College, one of the most active political pollsters nationally this cycle, has an A- rating from the election data crunchers at Fivethirtyeight.com.

Bucking results that show the Democrat underwater among voters nationally, President Joe Biden’s job approval rating is dead even in Colorado, according to the new poll, with 44% approving of the job he’s doing as president and 44% disapproving, leaving 12% with a neutral opinion.

In a hypothetical 2024 rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump, Biden leads the Republican 46% to 36%, with 14% saying they would vote for someone else and 4% undecided.

According to the poll, which only includes responses from Coloradans who said they’re “very likely” to vote in November, Bennet is viewed favorably by 52% of voters and unfavorably by 34%. O’Dea is less well known, with 36% expressing a favorable opinion of the first-time candidate and 32% having an unfavorable view.

Bennet is winning the state’s large share of unaffiliated voters by a 15-point margin, with 47% support to O’Dea’s 32%, but Spencer Kimball, Emerson’s executive director, said in a release that the Republican’s relative obscurity among the cohort – 39% have no opinion or haven’t heard of O’Dea – offers Bennet’s challenger some room to grow.

Polis is viewed favorably by 56% of voters and unfavorably by 40%, with 4% unsure and only 0.5% saying they’ve never heard of the governor. Ganahl, a University of Colorado regent and the only Republican holding statewide office, is viewed favorably by 36% and unfavorably by 36%, with 17% unsure and 11% who haven’t heard of her.

A majority of voters said they’re more likely to vote in this year’s midterm election following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning the Roe v. Wade decision, with 45% saying they’re much more likely and 8% saying they’re somewhat more likely. Just 4% say the ruling makes them less likely to vote, while 43% say it makes no difference.

That compares to 31% who said the FBI’s August search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort makes them more likely to vote, with 39% saying it makes them less likely and 28% saying it makes no difference.

A spokesman for O’Dea’s campaign disputed the poll’s findings in a text message to Colorado Politics.

“If this is a 10 point race, Joe Biden’s inflation crisis was transitory and Michael Bennet is a professional fly fisherman,” said Kyle Kohli, O’Dea’s communications director.

Saying his candidate has “massive appeal to voters who are sick of both political parties,” Kohli added that the campaign feels as good about O’Dea’s chances as they did when he won the primary in late June despite massive spending by Democrats to boost his more conservative opponent.

Ganahl spokeswoman Lexi Swearingen said her candidate is “looking forward to surprising people again this November,” noting that the Republican won the CU regent’s race six years ago amid predictions she wouldn’t.

Bennet’s and Polis’ campaigns didn’t respond to a request for comment.

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, his Republican challenger Joe O’Dea, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and his Republican challenger Heidi Ganahl
(Colorado Politics file photos)
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