Question:
2. (Republicans) If the 2012 Republican primary for United States Senator were being held today, and the candidates were - Chris Shays and Linda McMahon, for whom would you vote?

                     REPUBLICANS......
                     Tot    Men    Wom
Shays                35%    37%    32%
McMahon              50     54     47
SMONE ELSE(VOL)       1      1      1
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL)      1      2      -
DK/NA                12      5     20

3. (Democrats) If the 2012 Democratic primary for United States Senator were being held today, and the candidates were - Chris Murphy, Susan Bysiewicz and William Tong, for whom would you vote?

                     DEMOCRATS........
                     Tot    Men    Wom
Murphy               36%    43%    31%
Bysiewicz            26     25     26
Tong                  1      1      1
SMONE ELSE(VOL)       -      -      1
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL)      2      3      2
DK/NA                35     29     40

9. If the 2012 election for United States Senator were being held today, and the candidates were Linda McMahon the Republican and Chris Murphy the Democrat, for whom would you vote?

                     Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom
McMahon              38%    74%    11%    41%    43%    33%
Murphy               49     14     82     43     44     53
SOMEONE ELSE(VOL)     1      1      -      1      1      -
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL)      1      1      -      1      1      2
DK/NA(VOL)           11     11      7     14     11     12

10. If the 2012 election for United States Senator were being held today, and the candidates were Linda McMahon the Republican and Susan Bysiewicz the Democrat, for whom would you vote?

                     Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom
McMahon              38%    75%     9%    43%    43%    34%
Bysiewicz            46     13     79     37     44     49
SMONE ELSE(VOL)       1      -      1      2      1      1
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL)      3      1      1      4      2      3
DK/NA(VOL)           12     11      9     14     10     14

11. If the 2012 election for United States Senator were being held today, and the candidates were Chris Shays the Republican and Chris Murphy the Democrat, for whom would you vote?

                     Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom
Shays                37%    78%    11%    37%    42%    32%
Murphy               43      9     77     36     43     44
SMONE ELSE(VOL)       1      1      -      1      1      -
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL)      2      2      -      3      2      3
DK/NA(VOL)           17     10     11     22     13     21

12. If the 2012 election for United States Senator were being held today, and the candidates were Chris Shays the Republican and Susan Bysiewicz the Democrat, for whom would you vote?

                     Tot    Rep    Dem    Ind    Men    Wom
Shays                42%    78%    14%    47%    47%    37%
Bysiewicz            40      8     73     30     38     41
SMONE ELSE(VOL)       1      -      -      1      1      1
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL)      2      1      1      2      1      2
DK/NA(VOL)           16     12     12     20     13     19

Former wrestling executive Linda McMahon thumps former U.S. Rep. Chris Shays 50 - 35 percent in an early look at the 2012 Republican primary for the Connecticut U.S. Senate seat, but she trails either of two possible Democratic candidates, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. McMahon leads 54 - 37 percent among Republican men and 47 - 32 percent among women.

In the Democratic Senate primary, U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy leads former Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz 36 - 26 percent, with 35 percent undecided, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. Murphy leads 43 - 25 percent among men and 31 - 26 percent among women.

In possible 2012 general election matchups:

* Murphy tops McMahon 49 - 38 percent;
* Bysiewicz beats McMahon 46 - 38 percent;
* Murphy beats Shays 43 - 37 percent;
* Shays gets 42 percent to Bysiewicz' 40 percent.

About this Poll
From September 8 - 13, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,230 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points. Live interviewers call landlines and cell phones. The survey includes 332 Republicans with a margin of error of +/- 5.4 percentage points and 447 Democrats with a margin of error of +/- 4.6 percentage points.