Trouble for Democrats in RI-01

WPRI in Providence, Rhode Island has released a poll about first-term Democratic congressman David Cicilline. The former mayor of Providence had a six-point win over Republican John Loughlin in 2010, but this new poll suggests that, if the election were held today, the results would be quite different:

The new survey of 300 registered voters in Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District shows Cicilline's 2010 opponent, former state Rep. John Loughlin, would defeat him 47 percent to 35 percent, with 17 percent undecided.

Another Republican, former State Police Col. Brendan Doherty, would beat Cicilline 46 percent to 33 percent, with 20 percent undecided, the poll reveals.

Loughlin wins big with Republicans and Independents in this poll. Cicilline's approval rating is stuck in the low 30s; over 57% of those polled have somewhat or very negative feelings for him. Cicilline's poll numbers have in part suffered due to the current fiscal state of Providence, for which a number of voters blame him.

Those over 60 have the most negative feelings toward Cicilline, and it looks like he may attempt to try to win some of them over by emphasizing his support of Medicare and Social Security.

In 2010, Cicilline barely broke the 50% mark, indicating limits to his support. In a district where only a little over 40% of voters think that Barack Obama is doing a good or excellent job, this could be one Democrat in trouble for 2012.