Posted on 11/19/2014 1:46:44 PM PST by jazusamo
Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) has opened up an 11-point lead over incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) in their runoff race for Senate, according to a new survey from Republican polling outlet Vox Populi.
The poll finds Cassidy with a 53-42 lead over Landrieu, with 5 percent undecided. That’s up from Cassidy’s 48 to 44 edge in the same poll in October.
Cassidy is crushing Landrieu 58 to 31 among independents in the state. In addition, the poll found that Landrieu’s efforts to pass the Keystone pipeline during the lame duck session may have backfired — 39 percent said it made them more likely to vote for Cassidy, against only 32 percent who said it made them more likely to vote for Landrieu.
Landrieu’s measure to approve the controversial energy project fell one vote short in the Senate on Tuesday. Last week, the House passed a similar measure offered by Cassidy. The two candidates have touted their energy credentials to sway Louisiana voters.
Securing passage of the Keystone measure could have helped Landrieu put space between herself and President Obama, who continues to be a drag on Democrats. Those polled said Obama’s job performance was their greatest concern heading into the runoff, surpassing even the healthcare law, the economy, and jobs.
Sixty-one percent said they disapprove of the job the president is doing with only 38 percent approving.
“Bill Cassidy heads into the Dec. 6 runoff with a huge lead over Senator Mary Landrieu,” Vox Populi Polling spokeswoman Lisa Boothe said in a statement. “Louisiana voters’ disdain for President Obama, coupled with the unpopularity of ObamaCare in the state, could be influential in their decision making as they cast their ballots next month.”
The Vox Populi poll of 761 voters was conducted between Nov. 16 and Nov. 17 and has a 3.5-percenatage point margin of error.
The Landrieu campaign has in the past challenged the results of other push-button polls, most notably when the Cassidy campaign released an internal survey showing him with a 16-point lead over the Louisiana Democrat.
Most of the polling in the race was conducted before Nov. 4, and showed Cassidy leading by about 5 percentage points, according to the RealClearPolitics average. But the race has tilted away from Landrieu in the runoff period.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee pulled the advertising money it had allocated for the runoff, and Republican groups are now outspending Landrieu on the airwaves in Louisiana.
Landrieu bet big on pulling together a coalition to pass a bill authorizing the Keystone XL pipeline, but fell short. Meanwhile, conservatives have rallied behind Cassidy, with big names turning out at events for him across the state.
With Keystone behind her, Landrieu is now turning her attention back to the campaign trail.
On Saturday, Democratic leaders from Louisiana and some members of Congress, including Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), and Louisiana Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Carter Peterson will headline events across the state aimed at turning out early Democratic voters.
And musician Stevie Wonder, whom the Landrieu campaign calls a “longtime friend and supporter,” will headline a fundraiser for her on Dec. 1 in New Orleans. Landrieu and Cassidy are scheduled to have their only debate of the runoff cycle that day.
I was thinking the same thing, but then it dawned on me she couldn't just cancel the Stevie Wonder concert! That's liberal sacrilege. LOL!
Bump ;-)
I don’t know, she was pretty humiliated by the XL vote, and her party let her fall thru the cracks pretty hard. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
She’s more likely to find paying work in DC than LA.
Don’t forget her husband has a supposedly good real estate business in the DC area.
They may try to maintain that and hope Mary can secure a lobbying or political
payoff type job. True they could probably restart in LA with their contacts, etc.
Early voting starts Saturday, and goes to the Saturday after Thanksgiving Day.
Vote Cassidy and often. /s :-)
Since Col. Maness told his troops to support Cassidy, don’t sweat it.
She can finally move out her parents house.
She’ll save on taxes as she’ll no doubt stop filing LA income tax.
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