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Indiana Senate Race Tight in Donnelly Poll

By Julie Sobel // September 17, 2012 | 5:00 a.m.

Another internal poll conducted for Rep. Joe Donnelly's Indiana Senate campaign shows the Democrat in a tight race with GOP Treasurer Richard Mourdock. The poll, conducted by Global Strategy Group, shows Donnelly with 45 percent support to Mourdock's 42 percent support, with 14 percent of voters undecided.

The previous Global Strategy Group survey, conducted for Donnelly's campaign in August, showed Donnelly with 41 percent support to Mourdock's 40 percent.

A polling memo released by Global Strategy Group notes that Mourdock has a 34 percent favorability rating, and an identical number of voters rate him unfavorably. The memo doesn't provide Donnelly's favorable/unfavorable numbers, but says that he has a net favorability of 8 points. Mourdock's unfavorable number among undecided voters is twice as high as Donnelly's -- 30 percent to 15 percent.

Donnelly outperforms President Obama in the poll: Mitt Romney, who's expected to win the state in November, is beating the president 47 percent to 41 percent in the poll.

The Senate race has looked tight in all recent polls, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has been on air in the state. Now, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is reportedly buying time in the state as well. The Global Strategy Group poll was conducted September 10-12, surveying 800 likely voters, for a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.5 percentage points.