Connecticut continues to look like one Senate seat Democrats can be more sure of now that Chris Dodd is out of the race.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds Democrat Richard Blumenthal still comfortably ahead of his two chief Republican rivals.

Blumenthal, the state’s longtime attorney general who stepped into the race when the embattled Dodd bowed out, leads former GOP Congressman Rob Simmons by 19 points, 54% to 35%. Four percent (4%) like another candidate, and seven percent (7%) are undecided.

Matched against Linda McMahon, the ex-CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, Blumenthal holds a 20-point advantage, 56% to 36%. Just three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate in that contest, and four percent (4%) are undecided.

In early January, immediately following Dodd’s announcement that he was not seeking reelection, Blumenthal held similar leads over both Simmons (56% to 33%) and McMahon (58% to 34%).

A month earlier, however, both Republicans posted leads over Dodd, who was being heavily criticized for his close ties to the financial industry in the wake of the Wall Street meltdown in the fall of 2008.

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Simmons and McMahon run slightly stronger than Blumenthal among male voters, but both lose female voters to the Democrat by nearly 40 points. Among voters not affiliated with either party, Blumenthal and Simmons run even, while the Democrat wins by eight against McMahon.

Connecticut has been a reliably blue state in national elections in recent years, so at this stage a Democratic candidate without the kind of baggage Dodd was carrying appears less vulnerable than the party’s hopefuls in many other states. Blumenthal also has been a popular officeholder there for a number of years.

Forty percent (40%) of Connecticut voters have a very favorable opinion of Blumenthal, while only 12% view him very unfavorably.

Simmons, who served in the House from 2001 to 2007, is viewed very favorably by 14% and very unfavorably by four percent (4%).

For McMahon, very favorables total 16%, and very unfavorables are 14%.

At this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with strong opinions more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers.

Connecticut Republicans will pick their candidate in an August 10 primary.

Forty-three percent (43%) of all Connecticut voters say their personal finances are good or excellent. Just 12% rate them as poor. Sixteen percent (16%) say their finances are getting better, while 45% say they’re getting worse. Thirty-seven percent (37%) say their finances are staying about the same.

Voters in the state take a more conservative view on budget issues that voters nationally. Forty-six percent (46%) in Connecticut say it’s possible to balance the federal budget without raising taxes, but 34% disagree. Fifty-four percent (54%) favor an across-the-board income tax cut for all Americans, while only 28% are opposed.

Fifty-five percent (55%) believe that cutting taxes is a better way to create jobs than increasing government spending. Fifteen percent (15%) think increased spending is a better job creator, and 21% say neither works better.

Forty-six percent (46%) say the Untied States and its allies are winning the war on terror, while 24% think the terrorists are on top. Forty-four percent (44%) think America is safer today than it was before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, but 37% disagree.

Seventy-one percent (71%) of Connecticut voters trust the judgment of the American people on important national issues more than that of the country’s political leaders. Seventy-four percent (74%) say the federal government has become a special interest group, and 67% believe government and business often work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors. These findings are comparable to views nationally.

Barack Obama carried Connecticut over John McCain by a sizable 61% to 38% margin in the November 2008 election. But now just 51% of Connecticut voters approve of the job Obama is doing as president, with 32% who strongly approve. Forty-nine percent (49%) disapprove of Obama’s job performance, including 39% who strongly disapprove. This is roughly in line with the president’s job approval ratings nationally in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

Sixty-seven percent (67%) approve of GOP Governor Jodi Rell’s job performance, while 33% disapprove. Rell is not seeking reelection this year. Rasmussen Reports will release its first survey of the Connecticut governor’s race later this week.

Rasmussen Reports also has surveyed Senate races in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida. Most portray a troubling electoral picture for Democrats in this November's midterm elections.

Former state House Speaker Marco Rubio has now jumped to a 12-point lead over Governor Charlie Crist in Florida's Republican Primary race for the U.S. Senate.

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