Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy has an 11-point lead over Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu in the Louisiana runoff race for Senate, a new survey shows.
The Republican pollster
Vox Populi showed Cassidy with a lead of 53 percent to 42 percent over incumbent Landrieu, with 5 percent undecided.
The same poll gave Cassidy a 48-44 percent edge in October.
Cassidy's strength is with Louisiana's independents, who are backing him over Landrieu 58 percent to 31 percent, the poll found.
The survey also suggests Landrieu's recent efforts to pass the Keystone pipeline may have backfired: 39 percent said it made them more likely to vote for Cassidy, while 32 percent said it made them more likely to vote for her.
The measure fell
one vote short in the Senate on Tuesday; the
House had passed a similar measure offered by Cassidy.
Securing passage of the Keystone measure could have helped Landrieu put space between herself and President Barack Obama, who is unpopular in the state,
The Hill points out.
The survey also showed Obama's job performance was voters' biggest concern — surpassing even the healthcare law, the economy, and jobs — with 61 percent saying they disapprove of the job the president is doing. Only 38 percent say they approve.
"Bill Cassidy heads into the Dec. 6 runoff with a huge lead over Sen. Mary Landrieu," Vox Populi Polling spokeswoman Lisa Boothe said. "Louisiana voters' disdain for President Obama, coupled with the unpopularity of Obamacare in the state, could be influential in their decision-making as they cast their ballots next month."
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Landrieu and Cassidy are scheduled to have their only debate of the runoff cycle Dec. 1.