Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) leads Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) in the heated Montana Senate race, according to a poll released Wednesday.
An Emerson College survey found Daines (pictured) leads Bullock by nine points or 52 to 43 percent. Five percent of voters remain undecided. Daines has expanded his lead since the last Emerson Montana poll; Daines led by six points when Emerson released the poll in August.
Spencer Kimball, the director of Emerson College polling, said, “Montana looks about the same as it did at this time in the 2016 race, we will be looking to see if there is a late break in the state which last time went for Trump giving him a 20 point win.”
The Emerson College poll shows more support for Daines compared to a Data for Progress survey released on Wednesday. The Data for Progress poll had Bullock leading Daines by one point over Daines.
A Siena College/New York Times poll released in September had Daines leading Bullock by one point.
An AARP survey released in September also had Daines leading Bullock by three points.
Daines’ bid for a second term serves as one of the many crucial races for control of the Senate majority. Republicans have a 53-member majority in the U.S. Senate, and Democrats need to flip a neat four seats to gain control of Congress’ upper chamber.
Daines told Breitbart News Daily host Alex Marlow in July the Senate Republican majority is the “firewall for freedom” from leftists such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Bullock.
“As we’re looking at the overall Senate map, 53 Republicans in the U.S. Senate, that is going to be the overall firewall for freedom in this country. We can’t have Schumer have the Senate, and many are looking at the overall map and saying that you know what? The majority may come down to the state of Montana,” he said.
Emerson College conducted the poll between October 5 and 7, contacting 500 likely voters. The poll has a 4.3 percent margin of error.
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.