Democratic Senate candidates are doing better than President Biden in four crucial battleground states and are ahead of their GOP opponents. This gives hope to the party as Biden is closely competing in the race for the White House.
The survey was conducted by The New York Times. found that the Democratic contender is leading in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona, which are expected to be closely contested in the presidential election. The survey also revealed that Trump is ahead of Biden in three of the four states, while Biden has a small lead in Wisconsin.
Senator Bob Casey (D-Pa.) is ahead of GOP rival Dave McCormick by five points, with 46 percent support according to the survey, which also found former President Trump leading Biden by three points in the state.
In Wisconsin, Senator Tammy Baldwin (D) has a significant nine-point lead over businessman Eric Hovde, while Biden leads Trump by two points.
Senator Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) is leading by two points and Representative Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) has a four-point lead over their Republican opponents, despite Biden's poorer performance in those states.
Exactly half of Nevada voters sided with Trump when asked to choose between the two candidates, a 12-point lead for the former president. Trump secured 49 percent support in Arizona, a seven-point margin over Biden.
To maintain a 50-seat majority, Democrats can only afford to lose one incumbent Senate seat if the president is reelected. The seat of retiring Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is likely to be won by a Republican.
The survey did not cover Michigan’s Senate race, as the Republican candidate has not been chosen yet, and did not include important races in Ohio and Montana.
The outcomes of the latter two races, where Senators Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) are running in states with predominantly Republican leanings, could be crucial for the Senate race. Democrats almost certainly need to win both races to maintain their Senate majority.
In the four surveyed states, the Democratic Senate candidates consistently had higher favorability ratings than Biden.
The Senate candidates particularly appealed to Latino and Black voters compared to Biden. While Trump has the support of about 42 percent of Latino voters overall, the Republican Senate candidates only receive about 29 percent, as per the survey.
Biden and Trump are virtually tied in the overall presidential race, based on the average of national polls by The Hill/Decision Desk HQ.
The survey was conducted by The New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena College and involved around 4,100 registered voters in late April and early May. It has an overall margin of error around 1.8 percent, with specific state margins of 3.6 to 4.6 percent.
