These poll numbers were released earlier today by Rasmussen Reports -- "an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information."
Friday, May 21, 2010
Arkansas Democrats still have to pick their candidate in a June 8 runoff, but for now Republican John Boozman holds sizable leads over both his potential rivals in the state's U.S. Senate race.
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Arkansas, taken Wednesday night, shows Boozman, the winner of Tuesday's state GOP Primary, with 66% support in a match-up with Senator Blanche Lincoln. The Democratic incumbent picks up just 28% of the vote. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate in the race, and four percent (4%) are undecided.
If Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter is his opponent, Boozman, currently the state's only GOP congressman, earns 60% of the vote to the Democrat's 33%. Four percent (4%) like someone else in the race, and three percent (3%) remain undecided.
In previous surveys , all the Republican Primary hopefuls outpolled both Lincoln and Halter, generally by double-digit magins.
In short, the race at this juncture is an uphill struggle for the Democratic candidate in a state where the national health care bill continues to rankle voters who register much higher opposition than voters nationwide.
While 56% of voters nationally favor repeal of the health care bill, 72% of Arkansas voters feel that way, including 60% who Strongly Favor repeal. Only 24% oppose repeal, including 18% who Strongly Oppose it.
Boozman earns more than 80% support from the much larger group that Strongly Favors repeal against either Democrat. Lincoln draws 60% of the vote of those who Strongly Oppose repeal, while Halter gets 74% of those votes.
The survey of 500 Likely Voters in Arkansas was conducted on May 19, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC . See methodology .
Lincoln edged Halter 44% to 43% in Tuesday's Democratic Primary, but because neither candidate crossed the 50% mark a runoff is set for June 8. Boozman avoided a similar runoff by capturing 53% of the vote out of a field of eight Republican candidates.
Voters not affiliated with either major party favor Boozman by a five-to-one margin regardless of his opponent.
Boozman is viewed Very Favorably by 22% of Arkansas voters and Very Unfavorably by just seven percent (7%).
For Halter, Very Favorables are 11% and Very Unfavorables 29%.
Eleven percent (11%) have a Very Favorable opinion of Lincoln, while 44% regard her Very Unfavorably.
At this point in the campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with strong opinions more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers at this point in a campaign.
Only 19% of Arkansas voters are even somewhat confident that Congress knows what it is doing with regards to the nation's current economic problems. Seventy-seven percent (77%) don't share that confidence, with 49% who are Not At All Confident.
Seventy-six percent (76%) are also not very or not at all confident that their representatives in Congress are representing voters' best interests.
Forty-four percent (44%) of voters in the state oppose the confirmation of President Obama's latest Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan. Twenty-three percent (23%) favor her confirmation by the Senate, while 32% are undecided.
Obama lost Arkansas to John McCain in the 2008 election by a 59% to 39% margin, and just 32% of the state's voters now approve of the job he is doing as president. Sixty-seven percent (67%) disapprove. This is a much higher level of disapproval than Obama earns nationally in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll .
But 72% approve of the performance of Democratic Governor Mike Beebe. Only 28% disapprove of how he's doing his job.
Rasmussen Reports has recently surveyed Senate races in Arizona , Alabama , Arkansas , Wisconsin , Washington, Delaware , Florida , Nevada , Ohio , Kentucky , Kansas , Maryland , Missouri , New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon , North Carolina, Pennsylvania , Iowa, Vermont, Idaho , Hawaii , Connecticut and Indiana .