12:11 p.m., Oct. 14, 2010----The latest University of Delaware Center for Political Communication poll, released shortly before Wednesday night's U.S. Senate debate between Democrat Chris Coons and Republican Christine O'Donnell, finds solidified support for the Democratic candidate.

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The poll was conducted Oct. 11-12 and has a margin of error of plus or minor 2.1 percent.

The poll shows that in the closing weeks of the 2010 Delaware U.S. Senate race, Coons holds a 21-point lead over O'Donnell. This lead is slightly higher than the 19-point lead reported by a Monmouth University poll and the 18-point lead reported by a Magellan Strategies poll. For poll details, see the PDF.

Coons also leads among both male and female voters, independents, and moderates. The two candidates tied in the more conservative counties in the state -- Kent and Sussex.

The CPC poll is overseen by David C. Wilson, assistant professor of political science and a public opinion specialist who serves as the center's coordinator of public opinion initiatives.

While Coons normally holds a 2-to-1 advantage among women, he now leads O'Donnell among women by 33 points, 58 percent to 25 percent. His advantage among men over O'Donnell is 8 points, 49 percent to 41 percent.

Wilson said, “Most polls have shown Coons winning the female vote and O'Donnell winning the male vote, but if a greater share of males are now supporting Coons, then O'Donnell faces a steep hurdle.”

Coons and O'Donnell both win among their own party, but Coons has stronger cross-party and independent support than his GOP counterpart. Roughly 19 percent of Republicans say they would vote for Coons, while 10 percent of Democrats say they will vote for O'Donnell. Independents prefer Coons over O'Donnell by 12 points, 48 percent to 36 percent.

A similar pattern holds across self-reported ideology, with 18 percent of conservatives saying they would vote for Coons, 4 percent of liberals saying they would vote for O'Donnell, and moderates preferring Coons by 45 points, 66 percent to 21 percent.

In Sussex and Kent counties, typically viewed as more conservative areas, Coons holds a slight lead of 4 points, albeit a statistical deadlock, 45 percent to 41 percent in Sussex, and a 1 point lead, 41 percent to 40 percent in Kent.

In New Castle County, Coons has a lead of 60 percent to 28 percent.

Wilson said, “Coons leads among almost all significant demographic groups, and is running so competitive in the central and southern parts of the state, it's unlikely that O'Donnell can make up ground with her current course. She has still not moved from her primary style campaign using popular anti-government and tax rhetoric -- she's actually doing more harm than good by continuing to target the most conservative members of the Republican party and alienating moderate voters.”

According to Wilson, the poll was designed to provide some context to the debate held Wednesday night at the University of Delaware, and the CPC intends to call back a number of respondents after the debate to see if and how their views have changed.

The Center for Political Communications pre-debate poll is supported by a grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation through the CPC. Research methodology, questionnaire design and fieldwork for this survey were completed in coordination with SurveyUSA of Clifton, N.J.