Republican Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois has a slim chance of winning his seat in the November election, according to an American Enterprise Institute-hosted panel Tuesday.
The panel on polling and electoral politics agreed unanimously Kirk has “no chance” of winning his election. The panel, which included AEI scholars Michael Barone and Henry Olsen, also commented on Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey’s race, adding Toomey “is in trouble, but he he could very likely win.”
A Morning Consult analysis published Tuesday said that both Toomey and Kirk “are definitively trending in the wrong direction in terms of how their constituents view their job performance.”
Toomey’s net approval rating dropped 11 points over the summer. One survey showed the Pennsylvania senator dropped from a 46 percent favorable rating to 28 percent.
Kirk’s drop in support wasn’t as large as Toomey’s, but the Illinois senator has far less wiggle room in the race. Kirk entered the race with a rather low 39 percent approval rating — that number has dropped to 35 percent.
Kirk made news in August when he publicly stated that he would write in former Secretary of State Colin Powell for president. Powell came out in favor of the Iran deal, something that Kirk fought against.
“Every pundit has an opinion, but when actually looking at real math in this campaign, the election is a dead heat between Kirk and Duckworth,” Kirk campaign manager Kevin Arti told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
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