Deb Fischer, who emerged from obscurity earlier this week to win the Republican nomination for Nebraska Senate, already holds a large lead over her Democratic opponent, according to a new poll.
The Rasmussen poll, which surveyed likely Nebraska voters in the day following Fischer’s nomination, found that 56 percent said they would vote for Fischer, compared to 38 percent who said they planned to vote for Democrat Bob Kerrey.
The spread says as much about Kerrey’s unpopularity as it does about Fischer’s advantages. Fifty-two percent of Nebraska voters cite a somewhat to very unfavorable opinion of Kerrey, while just 42 percent have a favorable view of him.
Kerrey is a former Nebraska governor and senator, but he has been living in New York for the past ten years serving as president of the New School. He bought a house and moved back to Nebraska shortly before announcing his candidacy. As a result, The New York Times wrote, Kerrey’s opponents have painted him as a “carpetbagger.”
Fischer, on the other hand, is viewed somewhat to very favorably by 69 percent of Nebraskans, and unfavorably by just 19 percent. As The Daily Caller’s Matt Lewis pointed out, as her two primary opponents ripped each other to shreds, Fischer stayed under the radar — her positives rising as her opponents’ slipped.
Sen. Ben Nelson, a Democrat, announced he would retire at the end of his term, leaving the seat open.
The Cook Political Report rates Nebraska’s Senate race as leaning Republican: Just to the right of a toss up state, but not quite as red as a likely Republican state.