West Virginia Senate Special Election

I'm extremely bullish on our chances in Novmember, but this one shocks even me.

Republican John Raese has edged ahead of West Virginia’s popular Democratic Governor Joe Manchin for the first time in the state’s special U.S. Senate race.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely West Virginia Voters finds Raese earning 48% support to Manchin’s 46% when leaners are included. Two percent (5%) prefer some other candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided.

These findings move the contest from Solid Democratic to a Toss-Up in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Senate Balance of Power rankings.

This race has been closer than expected for weeks as Manchin, despite his popularity with voters in the state, faces an electorate that is even unhappier with the national Democratic agenda than voters in most other parts of the country.