A new poll by the Omaha World herald shows gains made by senate hopeful Bob Kerrey, but a
16 percentage point lead still keeps Republican candidate Deb Fischer ahead.
Eight hundred registered voters from across the state put the Romney and Fischer ticket ten percentage points ahead. But, when narrowed down to likely voters, Fischer's lead jumped another six percentage points. Kerrey still holds a three percentage point lead in the 2nd District, which traditionally leans more blue.
There are some surprising statistics from this poll that candidates will be referencing as
the countdown to November begins.
Although Fischer remains in the lead, the biggest factor noticed by the Kerrey camp is a nearly 20 percentage point comeback from a Fischer survey conducted in June. That could change to his favor or against after another round of debates, set to begin on October 1. Right now, the 3rd District is his Achilles' heel.
The polls show Kerrey and President Obama trailing by 25 percentage points or more, signaling to Fischer she's holding strong. Her camp released this statement to NTV News on Sunday:
"Despite Bob Kerrey's negative campaign and a barrage of misleading attack ads from his New York-funded super PAC, the Omaha World-Herald poll shows Sen. Fischer leading by 16 points among likely voters. It's clear that Sen. Fischer is connecting with Nebraskans while liberal Bob Kerrey is struggling because of his strong support for government-run health care and raising taxes on the middle class."
That message seems to be stronger with men in Fischer's favor. Of the men polled, 58 percent support Fischer as compared to 38 percent for Kerrey. Women are comparably split, but Kerrey made gains among independent voters across the board.
What could harm the Democratic Senate nominee is President Obama's approval rating in the western half of Nebraska. 60 percent of those polled there said they have a negative opinion of the president.
But, that doesn't mean Romney is necessarily a shoe-in either, 43 percent had a positive view of the Republican nominee but 17 percent were neutral.
With just over 40 days to go until Election Day, expect to see Kerrey and Fischer fighting it out over the six percent of registered voters who remain undecided. President Obama and Romney will try to turn the state back to red or remain at blue.
There is a 3.5 percentage point margin of error in the poll.
The full report from the poll can be found here.
