A new poll by Marshal University sees Democratic Governor Joe Manchin open a 10-point lead over Republican campaign rival John Raese. The poll shows Manchin with a 48 percent preference to Raese’s 38.
The survey was taken just after former president Bill Clinton swooped into town to lift Manchin’s campaign, and it appears to have worked. 450 likely voters were surveyed for the poll, which has a margin of error of 4.6 either way.
Manchin has governed for two-terms, but early on in the campaign fell behind in the polls, as Raese and the national Republicans have invested heavily in linking Manchin to president Obama, which given his current flag in popularity, also dragged down Manchin.
However a separate poll conducted last week by Public Policy Polling saw Manchin scrape into the lead with three points over his rival, and it now appears this week has seen him make a clear break to the lead. Manchin’s approval rating within West Virginia also remains high, with 75 percent of people saying they thought he had done an excellent or decent job as their governor. Only 19 percent gave him a poor or just fair rating.
Manchin has further tried to distance himself from the unpopular ‘Obamacare’ health care reforms by releasing an ad this week where he criticized the president’s policy, as well as the cap and trade bill. West Virginia is a coal-rich state, and so residents are worried about reforms which may affect the mining industry, according to the poll.
