West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) have struck a virtual dead heat, according to a poll released on Wednesday.
A new poll commissioned by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) found that Manchin leads by only one point–41 to 40 percent–over Morrisey in the West Virginia Senate race. The poll surveyed 600 likely voters from October 7-10 and had a margin of error of four points, making the race a virtual toss-up.
The NRSC survey polled voters immediately after Sen. Manchin voted to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
The poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies also found that Manchin’s favorability hit a new low—45 percent of West Virginia voters have a favorable opinion of Manchin, while 50 percent of voters have an unfavorable view of the incumbent Democrat. Forty-five percent of voters, or a plurality of voters, consider themselves conservative while only 17 percent of West Virginians consider Sen. Manchin conservative.
West Virginian voters also said that recent campaign ads had given them a negative impression of Sen. Manchin. Of the 90 percent of voters who said that they have recently read or heard something about Manchin, 54 percent said that it made them less likely to vote for him, compared to 32 percent who said that it made them more likely to back Sen. Manchin.
The NRSC poll found that President Donald Trump remains popular in the state and that they would rather have a Republican represent their interests in the U.S. Senate. President has a 62 percent approval rating in the state, and 44 percent of voters said that they would rather have a Republican represent them, compared to 39 percent who would rather have a Democrat in the U.S. Senate.
Nathan Brand, a spokesman for Morrisey, said in a statement on Wednesday that Manchin’s support will continue to drop as they learn about his liberal voting record. Brand said:
As West Virginia voters learn more about Joe Manchin’s record of being a dishonest Washington liberal who stood with Obama for gun control, and supported Hillary Clinton for President, they know he can’t be trusted. This race will come down to who voters trust to stand with President Trump, and the choice is clear: Morrisey is the Trump endorsed candidate while Joe Manchin is one more vote for Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi’s resist and obstruct circus.
This new survey comes on the heels of a Morning Consult survey which found that Manchin was one of the top ten least popular senators, with a 43 percent unfavorable rating and a 44 percent approval rating.
Sen. Manchin represents a deep-red state that went for Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election by 42 points.
Attorney General Morrisey continues to attack Manchin for refusing to be the deciding vote for Kavanaugh, contending that he only came out for the president’s nominee only after Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) announced her vote to support Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court.
Morrisey tweeted, “Amazing to hear such dishonesty from @JoeManchinWV on radio this AM. Manchin misleads Hoppy about his cloture vote — Manchin ducked making a decision until Collins voted for Kavanaugh. That’s because he promised Schumer he wouldn’t be the deciding vote. Liberal Joe’s gotta go!”
Amazing to hear such dishonesty from @JoeManchinWV on radio this AM. Manchin misleads Hoppy about his cloture vote — Manchin ducked making a decision until Collins voted for Kavanaugh. That’s because he promised Schumer he wouldn’t be the deciding vote. Liberal Joe’s gotta go!
— AG Patrick Morrisey (@MorriseyWV) October 10, 2018
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