Senator Mark Udall’s (D., Colo.) poll numbers continue to drop since the launch of Obamacare’s marketplace exchanges, according to a recent Public Policy Polling survey. Udall is among the Democratic incumbent senators whose seats Republicans are hoping to pick up in next year’s midterms.
PPP found Udall’s approval rating at just 40 percent, with 41 percent disapproving. When put up against leading Republican challenger Ken Buck, who ran for Senate in 2010, Udall held just a 4 percentage-point lead, 46-42.
Udall saw a similar closing of the gap between him and Buck in a Quinnipiac poll last month, leading Buck 45-42. The Cook Political Report currently rates the Colorado Senate race as “Likely Democratic.”
The biggest drag to Udall’s numbers may be the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. Nearly three out of four Coloradans described the implementation of the health-care law as either “very unsuccessful” or “somewhat unsuccessful” (47 percent and 23 percent, respectively). As for their feelings about the law itself, 49 percent disapproved of it and 41 percent approved.