A second Democratic internal poll shows Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) effectively tied with Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), as Democrats double down on their “war on women” attacks against Gardner.
{mosads}The survey, conducted by Harstad Strategic Research for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), gives Udall 44 percent support to Gardner’s 43 percent among likely voters, with 6 percent each choosing other candidates and declaring themselves undecided. It’s the first time this month a DSCC internal poll of the race has shown Udall ahead.
Harstad conducted polling for Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), the DSCC chairman, during his 2010 campaign. The firm’s findings bucked most public surveys, predicting Bennet’s unexpected win.
The most recent survey was conducted among 1,004 likely voters via live interviews by landline and cellphone Oct. 19–23.
The DSCC’s survey is nearly identical to an internal poll Udall’s campaign released on Friday, which also showed him holding a 1-point lead, taking 45 percent of the vote.
But the two internal polls follow a spate of independent public polls that have shown Gardner holding a lead of varying sizes. Public polling has shown the race tightening in recent days, however, with two surveys out this weekend showing the candidates divided by just 1 point.
Democrats have insisted their secret weapons in the race remains their data and turnout operation. They have also placed a hefty bet on hammering Gardner on women’s issues, insisting that message is best-suited to turning their voters out.
But that strategy has also brought them criticism from supporters and detractors alike, who say Udall’s been running a single-issue campaign. Even so, national Democrats showed no sign of budging from that message in the final week of the race, launching a new ad on Monday that hammers Gardner for his previous support of a strict anti-abortion measure that would effectively ban the practice.
In the ad, Eliza Buyers, a gynecologist, notes that Gardner is still a sponsor of a federal anti-abortion measure and accuses him of trying to “hide what he’s doing from people.”
“Cory Gardner is wrong to make abortion illegal and just as wrong not to tell the truth about it,” she says.