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FAIRFIELD, Conn. Mitt Romney has widened his fundraising lead among Fairfield donors in the presidential race, but Barack Obama has gained more in the polls. Similarly, in the U.S. Senate race, Linda McMahon has nearly three times as much money as Chris Murphy between her self-financing and accepted contributions, while Murphy has made gains in voter polls.
Romney had raised $221,109 in the town of Fairfield as of the beginning of the month, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Thats more than twice what Obama has gathered from Fairfield donors. As of Sept. 30, the president had collected $85,054, according to the centers data.
The Republican nominee has outpaced Obama even since The Fairfield Daily Voice last checked in on the race at the end of August. Romney has raised more than $68,000 in Fairfield in the last six weeks, increasing his collection from the town by 44.6 percent. Obama collected $23,000 in that same span, a 37.1 percent increase.
Poll results in both Fairfield and statewide favor the president, however. Obama won last weeks Fairfield Daily Voice reader poll in the presidential race with 49 percent of the vote, edging Romneys 44 percent. (Were still awaiting more complete results from Mondays poll.) In a more scientific and statewide poll by Quinnipiac University released Oct. 4, Obama had an even wider margin. In that poll 54 percent of likely voters chose Obama, compared with 42 percent for Romney.
"President Barack Obama's lead has jumped into double digits, where it is expected to be in blue Connecticut," Douglas Schwartz, director of the Quinnipiac poll, said in a statement.
In the U.S. Senate race, Democratic nominee Murphy had collected $5,636,604 in campaign contributions for the election. Republican McMahons largely self-financed campaign has taken $1,036,647 from outside contributors, while McMahon has used more than $13 million of her own funds.
The latest Quinnipiac poll, also released Oct. 4, has the Senate race too close to call. McMahon led by three percentage points in the universitys poll at the end of August. But the latest result had McMahon ahead by just 1 percentage point, 49 percent to 48 percent. A Rasmussen poll released Oct. 9 had Murphy ahead 51 percent to 46 percent.
"McMahon voters are much more likely to say they are very enthusiastic about their choice than Murphy voters, by about 2-to-1, Schwartz said. While the horse race has barely changed, the images of both candidates have declined since August, as the campaign attacks have increased."
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