Republican Todd Young moved ahead of Democrat Evan Bayh in the hotly contested Senate race by 5-points.

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - Republican Todd Young moved ahead of Democrat Evan Bayh in the hotly contested Senate race by 5-points.

The WTHR/HPI Indiana Poll has Young with a 46% to 41% lead over Bayh with Libertarian Lucy Brenton with 6% and 7% still undecided.

The hard-fought race featured extremely negative ads from both the Young and Bayh camps. 13 Investigates analysis shows 72% of the Senate race commercials on WTHR's air were all-out attack ads.

Bayh lost 3-points since an earlier WTHR/HPI Indiana poll in September while Young has gained 6-points.

Bayh does have an early voting advantage over Young with a 6% lead.

Bayh's slide manifested itself in his favorablity rankings. Bayh started the campaign with a +20-point net favorablity score in September but now slipped into the negatives with a -6-point score.

He dropped from an 11-point favorability with independents to a -12-point score. He also lost 11-points of net favorability with his own party.

Gene Ulm, a pollster with Public Opinion Strategies said experience is working against candidates, with Bayh being a key example. Ulm said, "Bayh is ruthlessly defined by (experience)," which is adversely affecting his favorability with Hoosier voters.