New poll shows Donnelly, Pence with big leads

An Indiana race that could help decide control of the U.S. Senate appears to be shifting in favor of the Democrat after the tea party-backed candidate made a poorly received statement about rape and abortion.

The Howey/DePauw University Battleground poll released Friday shows Republican Richard Mourdock trailing Democrat Joe Donnelly by 11 points. The two were neck and neck in the polls until Mourdock's comments on abortion in a televised Oct. 23 debate.

The two had been running even until Mourdock's remarks. Mourdock's campaign and national Republicans have tried to move past the comments, but Democrats have spent heavily in Indiana to replay sound bites of them for voters even though Donnelly has previously voted for the same position held by Mourdock.

The poll of 800 likely voters was conducted by Republican pollster Christine Matthews and Democratic pollster Fred Yang between Oct. 28 and Oct. 30. It carries a 3.5 percent margin of error.

In the governor's race, the poll shows Republican Mike Pence leading Democrat John Gregg 47 percent to 40 percent, with Libertarian Rupert Boneham getting 5 percent.