Arkansas Sen. Lincoln's Approval Slump Continues

August 26, 2009 12:01 PM | | Comments (0)

Democrat Blanche Lincoln will have to address a serious popularity slump back home as she gears up her 2010 bid for a third Senate term in Arkansas. Lincoln held a 36 percent job approval rating, to 44 percent disapproval, in an Aug. 21-24 Public Policy Polling survey of Arkansas voters.

The same survey showed Lincoln just neck-and-neck, or even slightly trailing, when matched up against three potential Republican challengers -- even though none of those GOP contenders is well known statewide.

Lincoln trailed by 41 percent to 40 percent in a hypothetical matchup with Curtis Coleman, CEO of Safe Foods Corp., a company based in North Little Rock that provides services to food processing companies; 19 percent of respondents said they were undecided. That virtual tie came about even though 80 percent of respondents indicated they didn't know Coleman well enough to form an opinion of him.

Two other Republicans were seriously competitive with Lincoln despite low name recognition scores similar to Coleman's.

State Sen. Gilbert Baker led by Lincoln 42 percent to 40 percent with 18 percent undecided. Against Iraq war veteran Tom Cotton, Lincoln led by 40 percent to 39 percent with 21 percent undecided. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

Additional Republicans are either actively campaigning or considering bids against Lincoln. The incumbent may also have to fend off a primary challenge from Democratic state Sen. Bob Johnson, who stated last week that he is contemplating a campaign of his own.

CQ Politics rates the general election race as Democrat Favored.

To see how all of the 2010 Senate races are shaping up, check out the CQ Politics' election map.

-- Rachel Kapochunas

More from CQ Politics

Categories: Public Policy Polling, Senate

Tags: Arkansas, Baker, Coleman, Cotton, Johnson, Lincoln, Senate

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