Hickenlooper’s approval rating in the poll was down from April numbers. Poll: Hickenlooper in a dogfight

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has a race on his hands, according to a new poll Thursday.

Hickenlooper is running neck-and-neck with his top Republican challenger, former Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Quinnipiac poll shows.


Asked who they would vote for if the election was today, 42 percent of voters said they’d choose Hickenlooper, while 41 percent picked Tancredo.

Hickenlooper fared similarly against possible challenger Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler, with 42 percent for Hickenlooper and 40 percent for Gessler.

Hickenlooper’s approval rating in the poll was down from April Public Policy Polling numbers, which showed a 53 percent approval rating. Quinnipiac found 47 percent of respondents approved of Hickenlooper’s job and 43 percent disapproved.

Overall, respondents were split on whether Hickenlooper deserves to be reelected, 45 percent saying he does to 44 percent saying he doesn’t.

The Democratic governor may have taken a hit recently for his decision to indefinitely postpone the execution of a convicted murderer; the poll found 67 percent of those surveyed disapproved of the decision, and 69 percent support the death penalty in Colorado overall.

Quinnipiac’s survey of 1,065 registered voters was conducted June 5-10 and has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.