Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Malloy trails Greenwich Resident Ned Lamont by 9 percentage points among likely Democratic primary voters with less than four weeks until the Aug. 10 primary, according to a Quinnipac University Polll just released.
Greenwich Resident Tom Foley's lead in the race for the GOP nomination for governor is 35 percentage points, but either Democrat is strongly positioned to win the general election, leading any of the three Republican contenders by at least 11 percentage points, the poll found.
The Democrats haven't won a race for governor in Connecticut in 24 years.
Could this be their year?
Both Ned Lamont and Dan Malloy have double digit leads over all the Republicans, including frontrunner Tom Foley.
Mr. Foley is favored in the new poll, 48 percent to 13 percent over Michael Fedele, who began his television ads yesterday. Oz Griebel has 7 percent.
Mr. Lamont had a 17-point lead in June, with 16 percent undecided. Mr.Lamont's lead is 46 percent to 37 percent.
The new poll is a survey of likely primary voters conducted from July 7 to 13. For the first time this election season, Quinnipiac posed a series of questions intended to screen respondents for their intention to vote. Previous polls were surveys of self-identified registered Democrats, not likely primary voters.
Using the previous methodology, Lamont still leads Malloy among registered Democrats, 46 percent to 26 percent. But a survey of likely primary voters is considered a better measure of the race and is closer to the polling methods employed by the campaigns.
Still, the new poll is likely to be a major boost to Malloy and a reassurance to Foley, whose campaign has been rocked by disclosures over past arrests. The poll found a high awareness of Foley's arrests in 1981 and 1993 after motor vehicle incidents, including one involving his ex-wife.
Despite a run of negative news, Foley's lead has held among likely Republican voters. In the previous poll of registered Republicans, he led by 27 points.
Forty-eight percent of Republicans called Foley's arrests a private matter, while 28 percent say they are a legitimate issue.
In the previous poll, Democrats favored Lamont over Malloy, 39 percent to 22 percent, with 36 percent undecided.
Republicans previously favored Foley over Fedele, 39 percent to 12 percent, with 2 percent favoring Griebel and 44 percent undecided.
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