Ned Lamont

Lamont Has 8-Point Lead Over Stefanowski in Quinnipiac Poll

Unaffiliated candidate Oz Griebel came in third.

Democrat Ned Lamont has an eight-point lead over Republican Bob Stefanowski in the Connecticut gubernatorial race, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll that also says 21 percent of likely voters who named a candidate said they might change their mind.

The poll, which is the first Quinnipiac University survey of this race, was released Wednesday morning and says Lamont has a 47-39 percent likely voter lead over Stefanowski and 11 percent are for unaffiliated candidate Oz Griebel. See the full poll results here.

Lamont’s campaign released a statement Wednesday morning that said polls change and criticized several of Stefanowski’s policies.

“Ned Lamont is the only candidate running with a positive vision and plan for creating good jobs, investing in education and workforce training, cutting property taxes for the middle class, and fixing Connecticut’s fiscal crisis, and he is going to continue to work every day between now and Nov. 6 to earn voters’ support,” the statement from Marc Bradley, Ned for CT campaign manager says, in part.

The poll finds women back Lamont over Stefanowski, 53-31 percent, and 13 percent are for Griebel, while men lean Republican, 46-41 percent, with 9 percent for Griebel.

Lamont topped Stefanowski, 87-3 percent, among Democrats, with 9 percent for Griebel and Stefanowski led Lamont, 90-2 percent, among Republicans, with 5 percent for Griebel.

Independent voters went 42 percent for Lamont, while 36 percent went for Stefanowski and 18 percent went for Griebel.

When it comes to how well-liked the candidates are, people who took part in the poll gave Lamont a divided 44-45 percent favorability rating and Stefanowski had 39-44 percent. For Griebel, 72 percent said they haven't heard enough about him to form an opinion.

“Ned Lamont is ahead in the Connecticut governor's race, but with 27 days to go, Bob Stefanowski is within striking distance," Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, said in a statement.

Voters who took part in the poll said the economy is the most important issue in their vote for governor, 31 percent of Connecticut likely voters said, while 26 percent cited taxes and 24 percent listed government spending and 13 percent said education.

“The number one issue for Connecticut voters is the economy, and Lamont wins decisively among those voters. Voters also say, however, that the most important quality in a candidate for governor is the ability to bring needed change, and among those voters, Stefanowski wins big," Schwartz said.

Of Connecticut likely voters, 59-39 percent disapprove of the way President Donald Trump is doing his job and said supporting a candidate who shares their opinion of the president is important to 65 percent of likely voters, 78 percent of Democrats, 58 percent of Republicans and 61 percent of independent voters.

Voters disapprove, 69 to 23 percent, of the job Gov. Dannel Malloy is doing and only 35 percent of voters said it's important to their vote if a candidate shares their opinion of the governor.

"In deciding which candidate to support, President Donald Trump is a more important factor for voters than Gov. Dannel Malloy, although both men appear to be doing damage to their own parties," Schwartz said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said Democrat Ned Lamont has a 22-point lead over Republican Bob Stefanowski

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