Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito leads Democratic candidate Natalie Tennant by 11 percentage points in their battle over an open Senate seat out of West Virginia, according to a new poll.
The nonpartisan West Virginia Poll found that 49 percent of state voters support Ms. Capito while 38 percent prefer Ms. Tennant, who is the state’s secretary of state, the Charleston Daily Mail reports.
Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller is retiring after this year, offering a key opportunity for Republicans as the party seeks a net gain of six seats to retake the chamber.
“Shelley Moore Capito is working tirelessly to get her message out to West Virginians and it’s obvious her proven record of standing up for West Virginia values, and her tough stance on Obamacare, jobs, and the War on Coal is resonating with voters despite months of baseless and negative attacks on her record,” Amy Graham, a Capito campaign spokeswoman, told the Daily Mail.
The Tennant campaign said voter-registration trends in the state favor Democrats, so they are confident that turnout will bring victory to their side.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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