Manchin leads in West Virginia despite high Trump approval: poll

Incumbent Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) leads his Republican challenger, state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, by eight points ahead of next month’s midterms, according to a new poll published Monday by Gray Television. 

Manchin’s lead comes despite high approval ratings of President Trump among voters in the state.

{mosads}The survey found that 46 percent of likely voters support Manchin, while 38 percent are backing Morrisey. Another 3 percent said they support Rusty Hollen, the libertarian candidate, according to the poll.

Manchin is considered a vulnerable candidate as one of 10 Democrats facing reelection in states that Trump won in 2016. 

Trump won West Virginia by nearly 42 points in 2016, and voters in the state still strongly support him. The poll found that 62 percent of likely voters said they approve of Trump’s performance as president, with 34 percent saying they disapprove.  

Trump has backed Morrisey in the race and has held multiple campaign rallies for him, most recently on Saturday.

The poll published Monday was based on interviews with 650 likely voters from Sept. 17 to 26. It has a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report slightly favors Manchin in the race, rating it as leaning Democrat.