Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Campaign Poll Shows Pruitt With Lead in AG Race


The Scott Pruitt for Attorney General campaign commissioned a poll last week by CMA Strategies, which showed Pruitt with a substantial lead over his primary opponent, Ryan Leonard. Here's the press release from the Pruitt campaign:

Pruitt Leads in Republican Primary for Attorney General
Scott Pruitt, despite his recent entry, holds double-digit lead over Ryan Leonard

A survey conducted last week by the Scott Pruitt for Attorney General Campaign shows Scott Pruitt with a sizeable lead over Ryan Leonard, the only other announced Republican candidate for Attorney General.

Conducted less than two weeks after Pruitt’s decision to enter the race, it reveals that Pruitt is much better known than Leonard who has been campaigning for 13 months and running radio advertising in both the Oklahoma City and Tulsa markets. In fact, Pruitt’s name recognition is 53%, more than five times the 10% rating of Leonard. Neither candidate has any significant negative rating.

The statewide survey of 500 Republicans with a history of voting in Republican primaries also shows that Pruitt has a 16-point lead over Leonard (21% Pruitt vs. 5% Leonard) though most voters remain undecided. More impressive is the fact that Pruitt’s lead widens among the most active voters, going to 28% vs. 2% among those who have voted in at least four of the last six Republican primary or run-off elections.

According to Oklahoma-based pollster Pat McFerron, who conducted the poll, the high number of undecided voters is not unusual at this stage of a campaign. “In a Republican primary, one does not have the partisan label to provide a base. This causes there to be a large number of undecided voters this far out. In fact, to be a candidate for a secondary office, garnering over 20% in a primary without having an active campaign is quite remarkable,” McFerron stated.

Pruitt currently leads in all parts of the state and demonstrates real strength in the important Tulsa region where he leads Leonard by a 27% to 5% margin. Pruitt leads by double-digits in all regions of the state, including the rural northwest home-base for the Beaver born and raised Leonard, by a sizeable margin (22% Pruitt vs. 6% Leonard).

While Pruitt leads among all income groups, his greatest lead comes among those residing in households earning more than $80,000 a year. Among this group, which is critical to fundraising success, Pruitt has name recognition of 53% with a strongly favorable rating of 22%. In contrast Leonard’s name identification among this group is 14% and his favorable is only 6%. As a result, it is not surprising that Pruitt’s lead among this critical group is almost twenty points (26% Pruitt vs. 7% Leonard).

"We're encouraged by what we learned. We have work to do, but are pleased we begin the race with a clear lead. Scott's depth and credibility with conservative voters is clear” stated Pruitt campaign manager, Tyler Laughlin. “Scott Pruitt commands a sizeable lead because he is a proven conservative with a strong record of fighting for conservative core values. We will work in the coming months to build on the lead Scott possesses and look forward to taking his message to the voters,” Laughlin continued.

The survey was conducted by CMA Strategies; an Oklahoma based political consulting firm, and overseen by veteran pollster Pat McFerron. McFerron has conducted hundreds of surveys in Oklahoma and across the nation. The interviewing occurred March 23 -25, 2010. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 4.3% at 95% confidence.

[emphasis mine]

Pruitt entered the race on March 8th, while Leonard has been an announced candidate for close to a year. This is very early in the race, and I fully expect for the gap between to tighten significantly as the campaign progresses.

1 comment:

  1. This is great news!! Scott Pruitt is the right man for the job.

    ReplyDelete

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