New Poll: GOP's Mark Boughton In The Lead Ahead Of Republican Primary
Hartford Courant
July, 23 2018
With only three weeks remaining until the Republican primary, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton is leading the pack, according to a new poll.
Boughton, who won the Republican Party’s convention endorsement in May, was favored by 34.3 percent of those polled in an online survey.
Longtime business executive Bob Stefanowski of Madison placed second at 20 percent, while former Greenwich hedge fund manager David Stemerman had 14.6 percent. Stemerman was essentially tied with former Trumbull first selectman Tim Herbst at 14.5 percent, according to the survey.
Westport technology entrepreneur Steve Obsitnik placed last among the five primary candidates at 11.6 percent. Obsitnik was delayed seven times in obtaining public financing of $1.35 million for the primary, and his campaign is currently under investigation by the State Elections Enforcement Commission for potential coordination with a third-party political committee that was formed in April to operate on his behalf.
The online poll was conducted by Tremont Public Advisors, LLC, a federal lobbying firm with offices in Hartford and Washington, D.C. Tremont is operated by longtime Hartford Democratic political adviser Matthew J. Hennessy, but Hennessy says that he is not working for any candidate in the current race.
“There is good news and bad news for Mark Boughton in the survey results,’’ Hennessy said. “The good news is that Boughton has held on to his front-runner status coming out of the May Republican convention, even in the face of being considerably outspent by his rivals for the nomination. The bad news for Boughton is that two of his rivals who remain within striking distance of his lead have the capability to pour millions of dollars into their campaigns over the next couple of weeks, potentially eliminating his lead.’’
Hennessy was referring to Stemerman, who has already contributed $12.8 million to the race, and Stefanowski, a wealthy business executive who has raised more than $2.2 million from fundraising and making personal loans to his campaign.
The survey of 1,006 Connecticut residents were self-identified as Republicans, and they answered a single question of whom they would favor in the primary. The survey, which has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points, was taken between July 18 and July 20.
The poll did not ask any questions about the two contenders in the Democratic primary on August 14: convention-endorsed candidate Ned Lamont of Greenwich and Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim.