(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) After outspending his Republican opponent Leora Levy with loads of loot from out-of-state PACs and dark money, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., finds himself tumbling in the polls from a once-commanding double-digit lead.
While RealClear Politics still has Blumenthal leading by an overall average of 9 points, its poll ranking has moved from Democrat hold to leans Democrat.
The numbers didn’t improve for Blumenthal in a new poll released Saturday that showed Levy climbing to within 5 points of Blumenthal, who clings to a 49% to 44% lead with 7% undecided.
“This poll reflects a growing shift heading toward Election Day, as Connecticut voters reject Biden and Blumenthal’s reckless agenda that is hurting their families and communities,” NRSC spokeswoman Lizzie Litzow said in a statement.
“The fact that Blumenthal is under 50% this late in the game is incredibly weak for an incumbent Democrat in a blue state where he’s held public office for nearly four decades.”
Could #CTSen be in play? Every good wave has one shocking upset.
Richard Blumenthal (D) 49%
Leora Levy (R) 44%
Undecided 7%The CT Examiner/Fabrizio, Lee & Associates poll, conducted Oct. 10-13, surveyed 1,200 likely voters margin of error of +/- 2.8% https://t.co/6POLr3uUsC
— RRH Elections (@RRHElections) October 15, 2022
“I would’ve expected a bigger lead for Blumenthal,” Wesleyan University political science professor Logan Dancey told the CT Examiner.
So did a lot of pundits, given that a Republican hasn’t held the state’s Senate seat during career politician and Stolen Valor recidivist “Da Nang Dick’s” decades-long reign of leftism. In 2020, Biden carried the state by 20 points.
Upsets would be nothing new for the Trump-backed Levy, who defeated RINO establishment candidate Themis Klarides in Connecticut’s GOP primary.
Levy’s biggest gains on Blumenthal in the latest poll appeared to come from independents, with 54% of respondents saying they would vote for Levy and only 37% for Blumenthal. The tightening race might have surprised pundits, but it was expected from the Levy campaign.
“It took until mid-October, but finally a public survey reflects the reality of this race: Leora Levy is in a margin-of-error, neck-and-neck race with Dick Blumenthal, a career politician with a 37-year head start,” said Tim Saler, spokesman for the Levy campaign, in a statement.
“Dick Blumenthal is under 50 percent despite spending more than $5.3 million dollars on advertising since the middle of June.”
Blumenthal’s campaign responded to the latest polling collapse by rehashing old talking points and evoking Orange Man Bad, according to the CT Examiner.
“Senator Blumenthal is working to be Connecticut’s choice for the Senate while his opponent is Donald Trump’s choice,” Blumenthal campaign mouthpiece Ty McEachern said in a statement.
Levy had a different take, and tied the incumbent directly to Biden’s coattails.
“Dick Blumenthal is the face of Joe Biden in Connecticut, and voters are ready for change,” she told the Connecticut Mirror.
“I will be a voice for Connecticut families and taxpayers in the Senate, and voters know I will fight to make life affordable again, stop the invasion at our border, stand with law enforcement, and be an unwavering backstop against Joe Biden’s disastrous partisan agenda.”
