Less than a week until the midterm elections, a poll by Cygnal, a national polling and research firm, shows U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) with a 6-point advantage over Democrat Phil Bredesen in Tennessee’s US Senate race.
The live telephone survey conducted October 26-27, with 497 likely general election voters, shows Blackburn leading Bredesen 51 percent to 45 percent, with only 2 percent of voters undecided. Of the 46 percent of respondents who have already voted, 50 percent indicated they supported Blackburn, while 44 percent say they voted for Bredesen.
Meanwhile, Vox Populi Polling released its latest survey of 780 active voters from the race, showing Blackburn with a seven point lead, 48 percent to 41 percent with 11 percent undecided. Blackburn’s lead is a 6-point improvement since Vox Populi Polling’s last Tennessee poll, conducted in mid-September, that had the race tied at 42 percent.
Macy Cambio, Vox Populi Polling Managing Director, said, ”In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn has rallied Republican voters to help solidify her base. With Phil Bredesen’s image now underwater and Blackburn opening up a seven-point lead, the chance of this seat flipping Democratic looks much slimmer than it did just one month ago.”
The Vox Populi survey also found:
- 53 percent of Democrats believe it is appropriate to confront elected officials over political differences in public places like restaurants and outside of their homes.
- 56 percent of Tennessean voters support sending U.S. troops to the border to deny the caravan of Central American migrants entry to the United States.
- President Trump’s approval rating stands at 54 percent | 43 percent.
Josh Pendergrass, Tennessee native and Cygnal’s director of client strategy, said, “Blackburn has a good lead, but she isn’t in the territory of Lee in part due to her inability to retain partisan support at the same level Lee does on the gubernatorial ballot. She needs to shore up her support with core Republicans and increase her support among voters with a favorable opinion of President Trump and of gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee.”
In the governor’s race, Republican Bill Lee holds a commanding 23-point lead over Democrat Karl Dean, Cygnal said.
“Bill Lee is immensely popular with Tennessee voters, with a net +60 favorability” said Brent Buchanan, Cygnal’s president and founder. “If they know what’s good for them, down-ballot Republicans will consider aligning themselves closely with Lee in the closing days of the campaign.”
When asked how interested they were in the upcoming midterm elections on a scale of 0 to 10, 79 percent of survey respondents rated their interest as a 9 or 10. Only 5 percent of voters said their interest in the election was low falling between 0 and 5.
The Cygnal survey has a margin of error of ±4.40 percent. Interviews were conducted by live professional agents calling landline and cell phones. Cygnal is unaffiliated with either campaign or outside groups in the race.
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Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.
