DENVER – New Colorado polling released Thursday shows that John Hickenlooper leads Sen. Cory Gardner in a theoretical Senate matchup next year by 11 percentage points and that a majority of Coloradans support the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
The Keating Research-OnSight Public Affairs-Martin Campaigns (KOM) survey released Thursday afternoon was conducted by the Democratic pollsters Oct. 10-14 and polled 500 active statewide voters who cast ballots in 2016, 2017 or 2018 or signed up to vote since last November. The poll was weighted to be in line with voter turnout demographics and the margin of error was ±4.4% and was paid for by KOM.
The poll shows that President Trump is at his lowest popularity point since he took office. Thirty-eight percent of people polled said they viewed him favorably, compared to 60% who view him unfavorably. His favorability has only been that low once in KOM polling, in March 2018; and his unfavorability was last that high in January. KOM also conducted a similar poll in June.
It also shows how Gardner, who has endorsed the president for 2020 and received an endorsement from Trump, is tied to Trump in the minds of Colorado voters.
Thirty-four percent of people polled in the latest KOM survey said they viewed Gardner favorably, compared to 45% who view him unfavorably. His favorability was lowest, and his unfavorability highest, at any point that KOM has polled that question over the past 2 ½ years.
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., who is also running for president, has a positive favorability rating. Forty-seven percent of people polled said they view him favorably, compared to 26% of people who said they think the opposite.
John Hickenlooper, the former governor who is the current frontrunner for the Democratic nomination to face Gardner next November in Colorado’s U.S. Senate race, is viewed favorably by 51% of people polled and unfavorably by 35% of people polled.
The survey also asked respondents for whom they would vote in a Gardner-Hickenlooper matchup. Hickenlooper led Gardner 53% to 42%, according to the poll.
Among unaffiliated voters, Hickenlooper led Gardner 58% to 33%, and among voters in Arapahoe and Jefferson counties, Hickenlooper leads Gardner 60% to 33%, according to the poll.
“It’s no wonder Gardner is routinely called the most vulnerable incumbent Senator in the country,” pollster Chris Keating said. “He’s barely above water with members of his own party, and the Trump anchor is pulling him beneath the surface with unaffiliated voters, whose support is a necessary ingredient for success in Colorado.”
Gardner raised $2.45 million last quarter and had $6.7 million in cash on hand at the end of September. Hickenlooper’s campaign raised $2.1 million last quarter – his first in the Senate race.
Jake Martin of Martin Campaigns said that “the headwinds facing Republicans are fierce” in Colorado, with Hickenlooper leading Gardner among college-educated voters, Latinos and women aged 18-49 in the poll.
The pollsters also asked respondents about the ongoing House impeachment inquiry, as well as a theoretical question about possible removal from office by the Senate should the House vote to impeach the president.
Fifty-four percent of respondents said they support the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, compared to 43% who oppose it. And 48% of respondents said they believe Trump should be impeached and removed from office, compared to 44% who said he should not be.
Sixty-one percent of unaffiliated voters said they supported impeachment, and, unsurprisingly, nine in 10 Democrats support it and nine in 10 Republicans oppose it.
“The impeachment inquiry is supported by strong majorities of Democrats and unaffiliated voters across Colorado. And support for impeaching and removing Trump from office is particularly strong in suburban swing counties near Denver,” said Curtis Hubbard, of OnSight Public Affairs. “Taken together, that is a horrible combination for Republicans as the 2020 elections draw near.”
