Republican Tom Cotton has taken a likely game-ending lead over Arkansas Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor, topping him among "very likely voters" 49 percent to 36 percent in a new poll by the
University of Arkansas.
The gap widens among men, with 57 percent favoring compared with 36 percent lining up behind the incumbent, though women showed no clear preference, backng each candidate evenly at 42 percent.
But the difference between the male and female vote, at 15 points, is the largest gender gap in Arkansas Poll results, according to poll director Janine Parry.
"It is no accident that the Democrats seem to have made October the month of the woman," she said.
"Not only are women as likely to favor Pryor as they are Cotton, but their votes are still up for grabs. While 7 percent of men answered ‘don’t know’ or refused to answer, 13 percent of women were in one of those categories."
The survey shows a larger lead for Cotton than most polls – the
Real Clear Politics average in the race shows Cotton up by 7 points — but lines up with data showing a
steady advantage for the Republican challenger since last May.
President Barack Obama's favorable/unfavorable percentage rating was 27/66 .
The survey’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.
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