4/8/18
Contact: Tremont Public Advisors 860-986-7737
Hartford - Connecticut residents are giving serious consideration to putting a Republican in the Governor’s Mansion this November. In a poll released today by the public affairs firm Tremont Public Advisors, Connecticut residents said they were more likely to support the Republican (57.7%) over the Democrat (39%) candidates for governor on election day this Fall.
The survey of 1,009 Connecticut residents over the age of 18 showed noticeable slippage in support for the named and generic Democratic candidates for governor, a 5% loss in support from the February Tremont poll. Of the named candidates tested in the survey, New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart (22.7%) is leading the field, with former Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz (12.3%), Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton (8.7%) and businessman Ned Lamont (6.6%) clustered behind her.
Respondents to the survey also expressed support for Jim Smith, Jonathan Harris, Luke Bronin, Oz Griebel, Tim Herbst, Mark Lauretti, Peter Lumaj, and Mike Handler. However, none of these candidates or potential candidates received the support of more than 1% of the respondents.
“We are still seven months from election day and much will change. However, Connecticut Republicans, and Mayor Erin Stewart in particular, have to be pleased with trends in the polling”, stated Matthew J. Hennessy, Managing Director of Tremont Public Advisors. “The political environment in the state continues to favor Republicans taking the governor’s office, especially if the GOP candidate can attract unaffiliated and Democratic voters.”
Hennessy also stated, “Democrats have to be alarmed by the continuing erosion in their support. The poll numbers of the ostensible leading party candidates have remained essentially static since December. Though the time leading up to the May party convention is a quiet “insiders game”, Democrats should have made some in-roads with general election voters at this point.
The good news for Democrats is that the continued dismal approval ratings for President Trump will present an opportunity for Democrats to link any Republican candidate for governor with the policies of a deeply unpopular national party. The fractured Republican field has the potential to produce a candidate reflective of Trump’s values and temperament.”
Q.1
If the 2018 election for Governor of Connecticut were held today, for whom would you vote?
4/6 /18 2/21/18
The Democratic candidate for Governor 20.1% 26%
The Republican candidate for Governor 26.3% 24.6%
New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart (R) 22.7% 15.2%
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton (R) 8.7% 11.1%
Former CT Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz(D) 12.3% 10.0%
Businessman Ned Lamont (D) 6.6% 8.8%
Undecided/Other Candidate** 3.3% 4.3%
Total Republican (“Generic” +Named) 57.7% 50.9%
Total Democrat (“Generic” +Named) 39% 44.8%
** In the 4/6/18 survey, eight additional candidates received “write in” votes. None exceeded 1%.
About Tremont Public Advisors, LLC: Tremont Public Advisors is a leading Public Affairs and Federal Lobbying firm in Washington D.C. and Hartford, Connecticut.
Poll Methodology
This survey of 1,009 Connecticut residents over the age of 18 was conducted between 4/4/18 and 4/6/18 using an on-line survey platform. Respondents were allowed to take the survey only once and were restricted from choosing more than one answer. The survey answers have a MMOE of no more than +/- 3%. The poll population consisted of two panels of respondents: (1) internet users reading content on a network of web publisher sites, and (2) smartphone users who have downloaded and signed up to use an Android app. To correct for sampling bias after the survey is run, weighting was used to upweight under-represented groups and down-weight overrepresented groups using Census Data.