Endorsed candidates open wide leads in Connecticut races

HAMDEN, Conn. (AP) — A poll shows the two endorsed candidates for U.S. Senate in Connecticut have wide leads over their primary challengers.

The Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday morning shows former wrestling executive Linda McMahon with a 59-30 percent lead over former U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays among Republicans.

Democrats support U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy over former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz  by a 50-20 percent margin.

Both McMahon and Murphy have increased their leads from a similar poll released in March, before the party conventions. In that poll McMahon had a 51-42 percent lead over Shays and Murphy led Bysiewicz 37-25 percent.

The telephone survey, conducted between May 29 and June 3 has a survey error margin of 4.2 percentage points among Democrats and 5 percentage points among Republicans.