Poll: CT Dems, GOP evenly matched in '18 governor's race

Connecticut residents are evenly split on whether a Republican or Democrat should replace outgoing Gov. Dannel P. Malloy when he completes his term at the end of 2018, according to a fresh online poll.

In the survey released Monday by the public affairs firm Tremont Public Advisors, 1,154 adult residents were divided on whether they would elect a Democrat (49.8 percent) or a Republican (50.3 percent) next November.

The survey also showed that no current potential candidate from either party dominates the crowded field of approximately 20.

"For Republicans to be neck and neck with Democrats in a state Hillary Clinton won by over 13 points has to be heartening," said Matthew J. Hennessy, Tremont's managing director. "However, it also shows that after months of attempting to tie the state's fiscal woes and voter dissatisfaction of Gov. Malloy to the next Democratic candidate for governor, [Republicans] just haven't made a convincing case."

At the same time, Hennessy said the poll results "just shouldn't be this close.

"At this point, Connecticut residents aren't connecting local Republicans with a very unpopular President Donald Trump, which is good news for the Connecticut GOP," he said.

Tremont Public Advisors is a lobbying firm based in both Washington, D.C., and Hartford.

The online poll was conducted between Dec. 12 and 14. Residents were either internet users reading content on a network of web publisher sites or smartphone users who have signed up to use an Android app, Tremont said.