New poll shows Christine O'Donnell catching up in Delaware

With only days to go before the midterm elections, a new poll is giving Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell a chance of catching up to Democrat Chris Coons in Delaware.

Still, Coons still maintains a ten point lead.

The new Monmouth University poll (.pdf) shows that O'Donnell has closed the gap by nine points in two weeks but Coons still holds a sizable lead.

Coons leads 51 percent to O'Donnell's 41 percent, according to the poll. The margin of error is four percent. Coons was leading 57 percent to 38 percent just two weeks ago.

"While Coons still has the advantage, it has to be uncomfortable knowing that O’Donnell was able to shave 9 points off his lead in just two weeks," director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute Patrick Murray noted. "The interesting thing is that while her vote total has risen, the majority of Delaware voters still say she is unqualified for the post."

Thirty-five percent said O'Donnell was qualified to be senator while 56 percent found her to be unqualified. O'Donnell's favorability has improved by three points in the past two weeks and Coons' favorability has dropped by five points.

On Thursday, the gossip website Gawkerpublished an account by a man who claims to have had a "one night stand" with O'Donnell. But the survey, taken Oct. 25 though 27, would not be influenced by that late breaking news.

Other polls taken recently show a much wider margin between the two candidates. A survey released by Farleigh Dickinson on Thursday indicated Coons had a 21-point lead.

A CNN/Time survey released Oct. 13 showed Coons with a 19-point lead.