COLUMBIA (WACH) - You could say it's the fourth quarter for Vincent Sheheen. The Democrat trails Republican nominee Nikki Haley 46 to 37 percent among likely voters. The poll was conducted by Winthrop University October 5th through the 10th. Winthrop Professor Scott Huffmon says Sheheen must reach deep into his political playbook if he wants to close the gap.
"There are only a few paths to victory for Sheheen," says Huffmon. "He has to hope that Haley's support has topped out, you know there's been a lot of enthusiasm for her and not a lot of enthusiasm on the Democratic side of the ticket, and that he can fire up his base."
Haley again doing damage control Wednesday, appearing on WVOC radio's "Afternoon Drive" show. She addressed allegations she had a romantic affair with former Mark Sanford aide Will Folks.
"I realize that when we won the primary, we upset a lot of people," says Haley. "They are constantly bringing out new allegations that aren't true."
"He frankly needs to hope that some of the mud being slung at Nikki from multiple sources sticks," says Huffmon. "So far it's slid off and she's remained above a lot of these accusations."
Huffmon says 13 percent of those respondents to the poll were undecided and could tip the scales come election day. "A lot of folks, especially in mid-terms, don't really raise their political antenna to even start receiving their signals from the candidates until the last few weeks."
741 registered voters who are likely to vote in November were surveyed for this poll.
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