New poll shows Castle holds steady lead in Senate race

Congressman Mike Castle leads possible opponent NCCo Executive Chris Coons in a hypothetical poll for the U.S. Senate race.

Conducted on the day Beau Biden officially announced he would not be running for his father’s former Senate seat, a new poll from Rasmussen Reports shows Republican Congressman Mike Castle holding a sizable lead over possible Democratic challenger Chris Coons.

Coons says he’s “seriously considering a run” for the seat after Beau Biden announced Monday that he would run for reelection as Delaware Attorney General and not for Senate.  The latest poll shows that Coons would have uphill battle if he does get into the race.  Congressman Castle received 56% of the vote, while Coons only got 27%.  13% of those polled were still not sure who they would support.

University of Delaware Political Science professor Joe Pika says Coons is a very viable candidate, “He has valuable political experience now, having served as the County Executive of the state’s largest county for most of two terms.”  Pika says Coons has broad experience with national issues, “I think he would be a quick study.  Somebody who would quickly be able to get up to speed on a wide range of the issues confronting the nation.”  Pika says there may be other possible candidates, including Lt. Governor Matt Denn.