The likely Democratic and Republican nominees for the Senate in Delaware next year are very well-regarded by voters and are locked in what would be a tight race, according to a Research 2000/Daily Kos poll conducted Oct. 12-14.
The survey gave Republican Rep. Michael N. Castle, who announced his candidacy last week, 46 percent of the vote in a hypothetical November 2010 matchup against Democratic state Attorney General Beau Biden, who had 45 percent.
Biden, who is interested in seeking the seat long represented by his father, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., has an approval rating of 65 percent and a disapproval rating of 29 percent. Castle, a former Delaware governor, has nearly identical ratings, with a 64 percent approval rating and a 30 percent disapproval rating.
Biden, 40, has his highest approval rating (71 percent) among voters age 18 to 29, while Castle, 70, get his strongest mark (68 percent) among voters 60 and over.
The Senate seat presently is held by Democrat Ted Kaufman, Vice President Biden's appointed successor who isn't running in the 2010 election.
The poll also gives former Lt. Gov. John Carney, the presumptive Democratic nominee for Castle's at-large House seat, an early advantage over either of two Republicans who were tested in the survey. Carney leads former state Sen. Charlie Copeland by 44 percent to 21 percent and state Rep. Greg Lavelle by 45 percent to 18 percent.
Carney has the edge for the House seat in part because of Delaware's generic Democratic leanings and his familiarity with state voters. Two in five respondents said that they didn't know enough about Carney to render either a favorable or an unfavorable opinion, but four in five said that about But more in four in five said the same about Copeland and Lavelle.
CQ Politics currently rates the race Leans Republican.
To follow all the 2010 Senate races, check out the CQ Politics election map.
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