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POLITICS

West Virginia Senate: Raese (R) Eases Ahead of Manchin (D)

Republican John Raese has edged ahead of West Virginia’s popular Democratic Governor Joe Manchin for the first time in the state’s special U.S. Senate race.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely West Virginia Voters finds Raese earning 48% support to Manchin’s 46% when leaners are included. Two percent (5%) prefer some other candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided. To see survey question wording, click here.

These findings move the contest from Solid Democratic to a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Senate Balance of Power rankings.

This race has been closer than expected for weeks as Manchin, despite his popularity with voters in the state, faces an electorate that is even unhappier with the national Democratic agenda than voters in most other parts of the country.

 (Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The survey of 500 Likely Voters in West Virginia was conducted on September 27, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Do West Virginia voters really feel that strongly about President Obama and the Democrats’ agenda? What’s their beef? How popular is Manchin really? Become a Platinum Member and find out.

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