Poll: Christine O'Donnell trailing badly

Delaware Tea Party candidate down 53-36 in Delaware Senate race once thought to be a likely win for the GOP

Published October 6, 2010 4:15PM (EDT)

Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell, right, greets supporters during a rally, Friday, Oct. 1, 2010, at her new campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Rob Carr) (AP)
Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell, right, greets supporters during a rally, Friday, Oct. 1, 2010, at her new campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Rob Carr) (AP)

A new poll shows Republican Christine O'Donnell badly trailing Democrat Chris Coons in a Delaware Senate race that Republicans were heavily favored to win until the tea party-backed O'Donnell pulled off an upset in the GOP primary last month.

The survey released Wednesday by Fairleigh Dickinson University-PublicMind found Coons leading O'Donnell 53 percent to 36 percent. It shows O'Donnell struggling within her own party, with only about two-thirds of Republicans saying they support her.

It also found that O'Donnell's primary opponent, Rep. Mike Castle, would have a strong lead if he were the GOP nominee.

The statewide survey of 801 likely voters was conducted Sept. 27 to Oct. 3. It has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

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On the web:

http://publicmind.fdu.edu/


By Ben Evans

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2010 Elections Christine O'donnell