Election 2010: California Senate-California Senate: Boxer (D), Fiorina (R) Are Back In A Toss-Up

Rasmussen Reports ^ | 10/05/10

[MissesBush]

Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer’s bid for reelection in California against Republican challenger Carly Fiorina is once again a toss-up.

The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Boxer picking up 49% of the vote, her highest level of support since mid-July. Fiorina earns 45% support. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and five percent (5%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Two weeks ago, Boxer held a similar four-point edge - 47% to 43% - over Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard. In surveys since February, Boxer, a member of the Senate since 1993, has earned 42% to 49% of the vote. Fiorina has picked up 38% to 48% support in those same surveys.

The latest numbers move this race from Leans Democrat to Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Senate Balance of Power rankings.

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The survey of 750 Likely Voters in California was conducted on October 3, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

In the first poll conducted since GOP candidate Meg Whitman faced accusations from an ex-housekeeper, former Governor Jerry Brown holds a modest advantage in California’s gubernatorial race.

[MissesBush]

Fiorina should be doing better than this. It's her fault she's not. I consider this her race to lose. Her commercials are few and far between, listless and don't hit Boxer where she's most vulnerable--on the economy. I don't know why she's not spending more of her millions. She could be putting Boxer away. But she let Boxer get out of the starting gate before her on negative ads and they took their toll. Fiorina needs to get some fire in her belly and get back in this game or she's going to stick us with 6 more years of this loathsome wretch Boxer. This is our best shot yet of taking down the hag. I can't believe Fiorina isn't fighting to win.

[SeattleBruce]

“She could be putting Boxer away.”

Come on Carly - FIGHT!

[skeeter]

Could be she's planning to stay within striking distance & will break out the big guns in the final two weeks.

That would be a mistake because Boxer has been known to play real dirty(even by washington stds) in the final days of an election - easy with a media happy to cooperate.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Four weeks is a long time. Hopefully, Fiorina has held back and is now positioned to pull ahead.

Release the hounds!

[cartervt2k]

This makes no sense to me. Ma’am is holding the same margin and is almost at 50%, yet it’s gone from lean D to toss-up? It seems like the only explanation is that they feel like Carly now has 45% who will show but Babs voters are more likely to sit at home and smoke their weed.

[Lou Budvis]

Everything you said x100. Babs’s ads about HP layoffs under Carly have been very effective and Carly’s ads have been few and far between. She needs really to take out after Boxer.