Michael Bennet's approval rating is just as bad as it was when we polled Colorado in April but voters in the state don't like any of his possible Republican opponents either, leaving this Senate contest pretty wide open.
38% of voters in the state disapprove of Bennet's job performance so far with 31% approving. Those numbers are roughly equal to our previous survey which found the numbers at 41% disapproval to 34% approval. There are two primary reasons for Bennet's net negative ratings. The first is that Republicans disapprove (62%) of him more than Democrats approve of him (57%). The second is that he's getting unfavorable reviews from independents, 36% of whom disapprove of him compared to 29% approving. ...
Potential Republican opponents Bob Beauprez, Ryan Frazier, and Ken Buck all get overall negative reviews from voters in the state as well. 40% have an unfavorable opinion of Beauprez to 30% with a positive one. For Frazier it's 19% negative and 11% favorable and for Buck the numbers are 18% unfavorable and 17% favorable.
Though he calls the race "wide open," Jensen also thinks Bennet would only lose to Beauprez in a 1994-style meltdown. Still, it's depressing to even be thinking in those terms, and it's dispiriting to see Bennet locked in at about 40% regardless of his opponent. (In case you were wondering, Frazier is an Aurora City Councilman and Buck is the Weld County District Attorney. Both jurisdictions are in the quarter-million range in terms of population.)
PPP will have more Colorado numbers over the course of the week, including GOP primary numbers for both the Senate and gubernatorial races, as well as Obama approvals.
