Colorado Senate Race 2014 Polls: Rep. Cory Gardner Holds Slim Lead With Overall Voters, But Easily Loses Latino, Millennial Votes
Colorado's U.S. Senate election is "too close to call," according to one polling firm, as Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Udall risks a loss against Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo.
Gardner, the Republican candidate, holds a narrow lead against Udall in the latest Quinnipiac University poll. The Republican challenger received 45 percent to Udall's 43 percent while 6 percent preferred Independent candidate Steve Shogan. The previous Quinnipiac poll had Gardner with 46 percent to Udall's 39 percent and 7 percent for Shogan. In comparison to the latest data, Udall showed improvement while Gardner and Shogan slipped.
"Not so fast, say the latest numbers as U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner's comfortable lead over Sen. Mark Udall becomes a race too close to call," Quinnipiac University poll Assistant Director Tim Malloy said. "What looked like a GOP lock on a coveted Senate seat in a targeted state, heads down to the wire with no clear leader."
The female vote was also "too close to call" compared to the male vote. Udall narrowly won the female vote with 47 percent to 44 percent for Gardner. Five percent of women preferred Shogan. Men, however, went for Gardner with 47 percent while Gardner slipped to 38 percent. Seven percent of the male vote went for Shogan.
Public Policy Polling (PPP) conducted its own poll, and Gardner also maintained a lead over Udall. With Shogan not an option, the PPP survey revealed Gardner with 50 percent of the vote compared to Udall with 47 percent. Three percent of respondents were not sure.
While more white voters voted for Gardner than Udall with 54 percent to 43 percent respectively, Latinos overwhelmingly went for the incumbent. Udall received 64 percent of the Latino response while Gardner had 36 percent.
Despite the clear advantage in Udall's favor, the Democrat received a higher disapproval rating from Latinos with 46 percent to 40 percent approving his job performance. More Latinos had a favorable view of Gardner with 49 percent to 39 percent, but 12 percent were not sure.
In terms of age groups, most millennials -- between the ages of 18 and 29 -- preferred Udall than Gardner in a 2-to-1 margin. Sixty percent of millennials voted for Udall and 30 percent went for Gardner.
Millennials were split on Udall's job approval. Udall received a 35 percent approval rating from millennials, but the same age group gave him a 33 disapproval rating, while 32 percent were not sure. The favorable rating for Gardner was a bit clearer as more millennials had an unfavorable view of the Colorado representative with 42 percent. Meanwhile, millennials gave the Republican senatorial candidate a 36 percent approval rating while 22 percent were not sure how to judge him.
The PPP survey was also similar to Quinnipiac's poll in terms of how overall male and female voters responded. Udall won the female again, but with 51 percent to Gardner's 42 percent. Gardner received a double-digit lead in the male vote with 55 percent to 42 percent for the Democratic incumbent.
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted between Oct. 28 and Nov. 2 with 815 likely voters surveyed. The PPP poll comprised of 739 likely voters surveyed between Nov. 1 and Nov. 2.
__
For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.