Republican candidates for U.S. Senate have made gains in key states, according to a new NBC News/Marist poll, adding to the chorus of voices asking whether the GOP will take over Congress’ upper chamber in November.
In Kentucky, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is ahead of Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes by eight points among likely voters, 47 percent to 39 percent, with Libertarian David Patterson getting another 8 percent.
Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight just last week said Republicans had a 64 percent chance of retaking the Senate.
At the same time, the new NBC poll also showed that Democratic incumbent Mark Udall has a six-point lead over his Republican challenger, Rep. Cory Gardner, 48 percent to 42 percent.
All three polls by NBC were done Sept. 2-4:
• The Arkansas poll surveyed 639 likely voters and 1,068 registered voters. The likely-voter segment of the polls had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percent, and the registered-voter segment had a margin of plus or minus three percent.
• The Kentucky poll surveyed 691 likely voters and 1,184 registered voters. The likely-voter segement had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percent, and the registered-voter segment had a margin of plus or minus 2.8 percent.
• The Colorado poll surveyed 795 likely voters and 976 registered voters. The likely voters had a margin of plus or minus 3.5 percent, and the registered voters had a margin of plus or minus 3.1 percent.
