An Anchorage polling firm is giving Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) an unexpectedly huge lead in his re-election bid less than two weeks before Election Day and with early voting underway.
Hellenthal and Associates shows Begich up 10 points over Republican challenger Dan Sullivan, 49 percent to 39 percent. It is by far the biggest lead that Begich has seen and runs counter to most public polling, which has shown Sullivan with a consistent advantage since mid-September.
Another poll released Friday and sponsored by Democratic PAC’s supporting Begich showed the race tied at 44 percent.
The Hellenthal and Associates poll, conducted Oct 15 to 21, surveyed 403 likely voters. Its margin of error is 4.9 points.
According to TPM’s PollTracker average, Begich currently holds a slight edge, 44.4 percent to 44.2 percent.
I’m surprised. I would have thought that the presence of GOTP royalty like the Palins would have sewn up Alaska for the Republicans for the foreseeable future.
The margin of error puts this in the same range as the tied poll. I doubt he’s that far ahead, but it’s nice to see Sullivan’s lead has gone.
Outlier!
The margin of error puts this in the same range as the tied poll.
The margin of error is 4.88%
The lead is 10%
Hellenthal is a Republican pollster.