Poll: Lamont holds lead
As of mid-July, Ned Lamont held a lead over Dan Malloy in the race to be the Democratic nominee for governor, according to a Quinnipiac University poll, with both men well ahead of Republican favorite Tom Foley in any general election contest.
The Connecticut primaries are scheduled for August 10.
Among likely Democratic primary voters in the gubernatorial contest, businessman Lamont leads former Stamford Mayor Malloy 46-37 percent, with 16 percent undecided. Among Republicans, former Ireland ambassador Tom Foley leads with 48 percent, followed by Lt. Gov. Mike Fedele with 13 percent and businessman Oz Griebel with 7 percent. Another 32 percent are undecided, and 73 percent of Republicans polled said they could change their mind before the election.
In recent weeks, the Republican race has been roiled by Hartford Courant articles detailing Foley”™s arrests more than a decade ago following disputes with his then-wife; and his lawsuit attempting to bar Fedele from accessing campaign funding. Foley subsequently published a detailed account defending his actions as the result of concern for his children.
“The Democratic candidates benefit from the state”™s Democratic registration advantage and they are better known than the Republican contenders,” Schwartz said. “Democrats also could be helped by the divisiveness of the Republican primary battle, which seems nastier than the Democratic campaign ”¦ The controversy over Foley”™s arrests is not having much impact.”
In the race for the U.S. Senate, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal held a still-commanding lead over Republican Linda McMahon. Quinnipiac”™s poll director said McMahon has the momentum in the race, however, having cut the margin from 41 points in January to 17 points as of this month.
“She still has a long way to go, but she has a lot of time and a lot of money,” said Douglas Schwartz, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a prepared statement.
Six in 10 of those surveyed had a favorable view of Blumenthal, off from the 74 percent of those registering a favorable view of him in January. While McMahon has been trending upward on the favorability rankings, she still fared far worse with 43 percent of those polled expressing favorable views of her, up from 24 percent in January.
“Over the next month, I will continue to work to earn the support of Republicans even as we begin to present to voters a clear contrast between the change my candidacy represents and the status quo,” McMahon said, in a press release addressing the Quinnipiac poll results. “The voters of Connecticut don”™t yet know the real Richard Blumenthal and where he stands on important issues. We will spend the next few months making sure they do.”