The new Fox News poll of the West Virginia Senate race has Republican businessman John Raese holding on to a narrow lead against Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin.
The numbers: Raese 48%, Manchin 46%. The survey of likely voters has a ±3% margin of error. In the previous Fox poll from last week, Raese led by a similar 48%-45%.
This race has been neck and neck, as two factors compete against each other: Manchin’s profile as a relatively conservative Democrat and his very high approval rating as governor, at 69% in this particular poll, compared to President Obama’s similarly high disapproval in this state, which is at 65% in this survey.
The TPM Poll Average currently gives Manchin an edge of just 46.7%-46.5%.
