Chamber survey: McMahon leads Murphy

October 9, 2012

POLITICO

Maggie Haberman

A survey commissioned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is making its presence felt in downballot contests this cycle, shows Republican Linda McMahon leading Democrat Chris Murphy by 3 points in the Senate contest in Connecticut.

The poll, by National Research Inc., comes on the heels of a Quinnipiac University survey showing a 1-point race in one that Republicans are increasingly looking toward as a potential pickup opportunity in a Senate landscape that has changed in recent months in their efforts to win back the majority.

The Chamber poll of 600 likely voters, taken Oct. 1 through Oct. 2, shows McMahon at 42 percent and Murphy at 39 percent. Another 14 percent of voters are undecided. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 points.

Both candidates have under-water favorables — 43 to 44 percent for McMahon, 38 to 40 percent for Murphy.

Chamber senior political strategist Scott Reed said, "McMahon has a proven record and a plan to cut taxes, remove regulatory barriers and create jobs moving forward. We think this is a hot race because it's focused on the economy and voters are concerned" about that issue.

He argued that the more voters hear about Murphy's support for "the 2010 health care bill which included job kiling regulation and taxes" the better McMahon will do, saying, "We continue to think this is a winnable race for the business community."

McMahon has been slamming Murphy over ethics after stories about him getting a home equity loan from a bank he had been a lawyer for once upon a time. At the same time, McMahon also has faced, as she did in 2010, scrutiny over her family business — World Wrestling Entertainment, the enterprise that created her family fortune and which she is using to fuel her Senate run.

In 2010, McMahon appeared in Quinnipiac surveys to come close to Richard Blumenthal, only to be badly beaten on Election Day. Whether things turn out differently this cycle remains to be seen. So far, her spending and tightening polls have prompted Democrats to spend more there than they'd planned.

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