Lamont, Foley early leaders for governor

Greenwich residents Ned Lamont and Tom Foley are leading their respective Democrat and Republican parties in the race to succeed Gov. M. Jodi Rell, according to a poll released Thursday by Quinnipiac University.

Lamont held a slight lead over Foley in a general election matching the two candidates, with the support of 38 percent of those polled to 36 percent for Foley.

Among Democrats, Lamont led former Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy by a margin of 27 percent to 11 percent, with 44 percent of Democrats polled saying they were undecided.

Foley leads Lt. Gov. Mike Fedele of Stamford 17 percent to 8 percent, but 59 percent of Republicans remain undecided.

Both Lamont and Malloy were the choice over the Republican candidates in a general election of those polled.

“The big winner in the primaries for governor is ”˜undecided,”™” said Douglas Schwartz, Quinnipiac poll director, in a prepared statement. “With most of the candidates largely unknown, voters aren’t expressing a preference in the gubernatorial primaries yet.”

In the race to succeed Richard Blumenthal as state attorney general, current Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz was the choice of 62 percent of those polled, with former Stamford state Sen.George Jepsen getting just 10 percent. This week, Bysiewicz asked Blumenthal for an opinion on whether she can appear on the ballot for AG, in light of a state law that requires individuals to have 10 years experience as a practicing attorney to qualify for the position.

Quinnipiac surveyed nearly 1,600 registered voters in Connecticut between Jan. 14 and Jan. 19, assigning a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points for general election questions; 4 points for the Democratic primary; and 4.8 points for the Republican race.