FLORIDA: Trump Drags Marco Rubio Down To Slim 3-Point Lead Over Dem US Senate Rival Patrick Murphy

Today in Senate-flipping news:

Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy is catching up to Sen. Marco Rubio and is nearly tied with him in a new Quinnipiac University poll that suggests Donald Trump is a drag on the incumbent Republican.

Rubio has a marginal 3-point lead over Murphy, 48 percent to 45 percent, in the latest poll of likely voters. However, last month’s Quinnipiac poll showed Rubio ahead by 13 points, 50 percent to 37 percent. Factoring in the new poll’s 3-point error-margin, the Senate race is now “too close to call,” Quinnipiac said in a news release.

The cumulative 10-point shift in Murphy’s favor comes amid bad local press for the Democrat and relatively little paid media that would normally lead to such a change.

Quinnipiac’s assistant polling director, Peter A. Brown, suggested Trump’s struggles are hurting Rubio in Florida — just as he appears to be damaging Republican Sen. Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania. Toomey trails his Democratic challenger, Katie McGinty, in the portion of the poll surveying likely Pennsylvania voters.