Rep. Mazie Hirono‘s campaign for U.S. Senate is releasing the results of a new poll that shows the Democratic congresswoman with an 18-point lead over Democratic rival and former Congressman Ed Case. 

Washington-based Benenson Strategy Group conducted the poll, which found that if the August 2012 primary were held in mid-November, Hirono would have secured 54 percent of the vote.

The pollster found that Case would receive 36 percent of the vote, while 7 percent of likely voters said they were undecided and 3 percent were recorded as supporting “another candidate.”

Hirono’s campaign also highlighted poll results that showed that likely voters believe that the phrase “can beat Linda Lingle in the general election” applies more to Hirono than to Case.

In August, when the Case campaign released poll results that showed he was more likely to beat the Republican Lingle in a general election, Senate Democratic leaders chastised him.

Benenson Strategy Group’s poll was based on interviews with 800 likely Democratic primary voters in Hawaii between Nov. 15 – Nov. 19, with a margin of error of 3.46 percent.