NASHVILLE — Dueling Democratic and Republican polls paint two early and opposing pictures of the landscape in Tennessee's fledgling 2018 U.S. Senate race.

An October poll commissioned by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee before former Gov. Phil Bredesen's formal entry into the race found the Nashville Democrat led U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., by 46 percent to 41 percent among likely voters.

Thirteen percent of the 601 registered voters surveyed were undecided, according to the poll, conducted by Democratic polling firm Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.1 percent.

Meanwhile, a pro-President Donald Trump political action committee, the Committee to Defend the President, commissioned its own poll this month after Bredesen, a former Nashville mayor, formally declared.

Forty-three percent of the 500 respondents said they supported Blackburn, who is from Brentwood, versus 34 percent who backed Bredesen, The Tennessean newspaper reported earlier this week.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., speaks during the final day of the Republican National Convention on Thursday in Cleveland, Ohio.

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Twenty-three percent said they were undecided in the Committee to Defend the President survey, conducted Dec. 13, 14 and 17 by WPA Intelligence, which has done polling for clients including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Fla. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent.

The GOP survey also found Blackburn was better known and viewed than her Aug. 2 GOP primary rival, former U.S. Rep. Stephen Fincher of West Tennessee.

Eighty-six percent of a seperate, 400-person GOP voter sample said they recognized the name of Blackburn, whose 7th Congressional District has several counties that are part of the Nashville media market. That compares to 32 percent for Fincher. Fifty- three percent of GOP voters viewed Blackburn favorably, versus 11 percent for Fincher.

The stand-alone GOP primary sample's margin of error was plus or minus 4.9 percent on the 400 registered voters.

The general election portion of the survey found 42 percent of the 500 voters surveyed saying they would vote for Bredesen versus 30 percent for Fincher in the general election. Twenty-eight percent were undecided.