Poll: Republican holds 14-point lead in Louisiana Senate runoff

Louisiana Treasurer John Kennedy (R) holds a 14-point lead over Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell (D) in the final Senate race of 2016, a poll released Thursday finds.

Kennedy and Campbell emerged the top two in Louisiana’s all-party primary on Election Day and now face off in a Dec. 10 runoff for retiring GOP Sen. David Vitter’s seat.

A poll conducted by South Media & Opinion Research found Kennedy handily edging out Campbell, 52 percent to 38 percent.

{mosads}If Kennedy wins the runoff, that will hold Republicans’ total number of Senate seats at 52, while Democrats currently have 48 seats.

Kennedy, who has served statewide since 2000, is heavily favored in the ruby red state that President-elect Donald Trump easily carried on Election Day. And 60 percent of the electorate in the primary voted for one of the GOP candidates.

Earlier this month, the GOP-leaning polling firm Trafalgar Group found Kennedy leading by a similar margin, 58 percent to 35 percent.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) has opened 10 field offices throughout Louisiana and ESAFund, a super PAC backing Kennedy, has already gone up with a $500,000 statewide TV ad buy. 

Even though the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) has no plans to invest in the runoff, the state Democratic party is working with Campbell’s campaign and the latest Federal Election Commission report shows he’s raised $2.5 million between Oct. 20 and Nov. 20. A super PAC supporting Campbell and his campaign are also airing TV spots.

Thursday’s poll was conducted from Nov. 28 to 30 and surveyed 500 likely Louisiana voters via phone. The margin of error was 4.4 percentage points.