June 20, 2010 05:59 PM UTC

Senator Ken Buck

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• by: DavidThi808

Buck, Bennet lead in U.S. Senate primary races

Between the current front-runners, Buck would take 46 percent of the general vote in November, and Bennet 43 percent. (The margin of error on that question was plus or minus 2.5 percentage points for both candidates.)

Both Norton and Romanoff trail Buck & Bennet by about 15 points. As we get close to primary day and people start to pay attention, that 15 points seem to be holding steady on both sides.

Buck, the Weld County prosecutor buoyed by outside TV buys and Tea Party sentiment, leads former Lt. Gov. Norton 53 percent to 37 percent among likely Republican primary voters, according to poll results.

Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet appears to be riding rich TV spending and incumbent media attention, staying well ahead of former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff’s insurgent campaign. Bennet beats Romanoff 53 percent to 36 percent among likely voters. The primaries are Aug. 10.

Short a Meg Whitman bank account, 15 points is pretty insurmountable unless some major new issue comes up that will significantly impact people’s votes. So it looks like it’s going to be Bennet vs Buck in November.

On the Republican side I view this as good news as I think Buck would be a much better Senator than Norton. And if it’s going to be a Republican winning, I want Buck.

On the Democratic side I view this as a wash – Romanoff would be much better on financial regulation but Bennet is willing to support teacher accountability (ie firing the crappy ones).