Most Connecticut Voters Undecided on Governor.

Blumenthal leads among Dems and GOP and Bysiewicz leads in AG race despite bad press

Significant percentages of both Republican and Democratic voters are undecided about who they will support in the race for Governor. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal holds a commanding lead among Democrats in head to head match ups with Republicans in the race for the U. S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Chris Dodd. And, Susan Bysiewicz, who has been pummeled by bad press for weeks, continues to lead among candidates for Attorney General.

On the state’s fiscal front, meanwhile, voters overwhelmingly oppose putting keno gambling outside of the state’s Native American casinos, and installing tolls on the interstate highways.

The Senate Race

The most recent Quinnipiac Poll (Q Poll) shows Former wrestling executive Linda McMahon ahead of former Congressman Rob Simmons, 44% to 34%, in the Republican primary race for Senate.  This is a dramatic change from the January Q Poll when Simmons lead McMahon 37% to 27%.  Many credit McMahon’s television presence for her 17-point gain. None of the other potential Senate Candidates are currently advertising on TV.

McMahon’s ads have turned her into one of the better known candidates for Senate.  Thirty-six percent of Connecticut voters say they have a favorable impression of her while 26% say their impression is unfavorable. Slightly more than one-third of the State’s voters don’t know enough about McMahon to have an impression. Similarly, Simmons has a 38% to 21% favorability rating with four-in-ten voters saying they don’t know enough about him to have an opinion. 

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is the best known among potential Senatorial candidates. Blumenthal enjoys a 70% to 18% favorability rating. Only 10% of the State’s voters say they don’t know enough about the AG to have an opinion. Blumenthal’s Democratic challengers are virtually unknown. Merrick Alpert is unknown by 93% of Connecticut voters and 85% say they do not know enough about Peter Schiff to rate him.  In horserace questions Blumenthal easily beats every potential challenger, both Democrats and Republicans. 

The Gubernatorial Election

Connecticut voters are undecided in their choice for the State’s next Governor. Forty-four percent of Democratic voters are undecided. Twenty-eight percent of Democrats support Lamont while 18% say they are for Malloy and four percent support Mary Glassman. 

Republican voters are even more uncertain about who they want to represent them in the Gubernatorial election. Former ambassador Tom Foley is in the lead, supported by 30% of Republican voters. No other Republican candidate receives more than 4% of the primary vote.  Half of all Republican voters (50%) say they are undecided.

The Race for Attorney General

Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz’s name recognition has given her an early lead in the Democratic primary race for the office of Attorney General.  Despite negative press and questions about her eligibility, 54% of the State’s Democratic voters say they support Bysiewicz in the race for Attorney General. Former State Senator George Jepsen receives 10% of the vote.  None of the other Democratic candidates tops two percent. One-third of Democratic voters are undecided at this time.

Two-thirds of Republican voters (66%) are undecided about who they support for Connecticut Attorney General. State Senator Andrew Roraback leads among Republican candidates with 13%.

Potential Budget Solutions

In addition to evaluating voters’ preferences in upcoming elections, this most recent Q Poll looked at how voters feel about a number of potential solutions to the State’s budget woes. 

The vast majority (70%) of Connecticut voters oppose keno gambling in restaurants, bars and convenience stores. The opposition is consistently strong across parties and in all areas of the State. Twenty-seven percent of CT voters are in favor of making the electronic-bingo like game available in restaurants, bars and convenience stores.

Fifty-six percent of voters are opposed to putting tolls back on Connecticut’s state highways.  Again, the opposition is consistent across party lines.

Finally, the Q Poll asked registered voters their feelings about allowing liquor sales on Sundays and in grocery stores. Fifty-six percent support allowing Sunday sales but a slight majority (52%) oppose selling wine and liquor in grocery stores. Opposition is greater among registered Republicans and independent voters. 

About the Survey

For this survey, Quinnipiac University interviewed 1,451 Connecticut registered voters between March 9-15, 2010. The margin of error for a sample of this size is +/-2.6 percentage points. The survey includes 549 Democrats. The margin of error for questions asked only of Democrats, like the primary question, is +/-4.2 percentage points. The sample also includes 387 Republicans.  The margin of error for questions asked only of Republicans is +/-5 percentage points.