Dem
47
GOP
53
A few new polls caught our attention. First, two Senate polls. For the general election for the seat of retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) in a key swing state, Rep. Chris Pappas (D-NH) leads former senator John E. Sununu (R), 45% to 41%. Sununu is the Republicans' ideal candidate because: (1) He was already elected to the Senate once and (2) the Sununu name is well known in the state (his brother, Chris, was a four-term former governor and their father, John H. Sununu, is also a former governor).
In the Texas senatorial Republican primary, Ken Paxton is leading John Cornyn 36% to 27%, with Wesley Hunt at 15%, with 22% still undecided. If you live in Texas, you are advised to turn off your TV until the evening of March 3 because all it is going to have until then are nasty negative political ads.
Also interesting are some approval/disapproval polls. In a recent YouGov poll, Donald Trump is deeply under water at 38% approve and 58% disapprove. However, a Quantus Insights poll is somewhat better for him at 43%/56%. A Pew poll puts it at 40%/58%. Averaging these three, we get 40%/57%. Not strong for a midterm year.
Also interesting is approval/disapproval for J.D. Vance. Pew has him at 38%/52% and Focaldata has him at 33%/43%, which averages to 35.5%/47.5%. So Vance is 12 points under water. Of course, it is mostly Democrats and independents who don't like Vance and they don't have a say in most Republican primaries. However, they most certainly do in general elections and his opponents in the 2028 Republican Presidential primaries might just point this out a couple of times. (V)