GOP Rep. Tom Cotton has stretched his lead over Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor to 8 points, according to a new poll from Talk Business & Politics and Hendrix College.
Mr. Cotton leads Mr. Pryor 49 percent to 41 percent, after leading a late July TB&P-Hendrix poll, 44 percent to 42 percent.
Mr. Cotton leads in three of the state’s four congressional districts and leads 49 percent to 42 percent in the fourth district, which he has represented over the past two years. Mr. Pryor has a 48 percent to 43 percent lead in the second congressional district in central Arkansas.
Mr. Cotton also leads among independent voters, 59 percent to 28 percent. He has a narrow edge among women and a 55 percent to 37 percent lead over Mr. Pryor among men.
“As early voting begins and candidates begin their homestretch run, Congressman Cotton is poised to knock off Sen. Pryor barring any major disasters,” Talk Business & Politics Editor-in-Chief Roby Brock said. “I do think this race tightens, however, as Democrats are pushing for a massive get-out-the-vote effort among newly registered and dormant voters. How big that impact will be is anyone’s guess. It’s complicated and nearly impossible to accurately poll that universe.”
Mr. Cotton has a 5.5-point lead in RealClearPolitics’ latest average of public polling on the race.
The poll of 2,075 likely voters was conducted Oct. 15-16, after two debates last week and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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