Polls show Chris Coons leading Christine O'Donnell by double digits. | AP Polls: Coons up big on O'Donnell

Chris Coons, the Democratic candidate for the Delaware Senate seat once held by Vice President Joe Biden, has a substantial lead over his GOP opponent Christine O'Donnell, according to two polls released Wednesday.

A University of Delaware poll shows Coons with a 19-point lead over tea party favorite O’Donnell. His advantage widens to 24 points — 61 to 37 percent — when the poll estimates the probable preferences of the 13 percent of respondents who said they were undecided.


A poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University has Coons up 17 points on O'Donnell — the tea party candidate who last month upset Rep. Michael Castle in the GOP primary.

The Fairleigh Dickinson survey also found that only 68 percent of Republicans plan to vote for O'Donnell, as opposed to the 85 percent of Democrats who have united behind Coons.

The swing in favorability for Coons has been substantial since O'Donnell’s primary win. A Rasmussen Reports poll taken days before the Sept. 14 primary showed that Castle would beat Coons by 11 points.

O'Donnell has been the subject of intense media coverage over the past month, thanks not only to her upset victory over Castle but also to an endorsement from Sarah Palin and the release of several controversial quotes made in the late 1990s on Bill Maher’s ABC show.

The latest focus came Monday after O’Donnell released a TV ad in which she declared she is not a witch — referring to one of the clips from Maher’s show.