A new Quinnipiac University poll offers good news for Cory Booker and Steve Lonegan.
The poll released today shows that in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary, the Newark mayor has 52 percent, with 10 percent for U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, 8 percent for U.S. Rep. Rush Holt and 3 percent for Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver. Another 26 percent are undecided, the poll showed.
On the Republican side of the primary, Lonegan tops Alieta Eck 62 – 5 percent, with 28 percent undecided.
The poll breaks down matchups this way: Booker beats Lonegan 53-30 percent; Pallone beats Lonegan 38-34; Holt beats Lonegan 37-36; but Oliver loses to Lonegan 37-35 percent.
“It looks as if the speculation was right: Newark Mayor Cory Booker seems to be a shoo-in for the U.S. Senate,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a release.
“Political observers wondered why Congressmen Frank Pallone and Rush Holt didn’t make a deal for one of them to step out and throw his support to the other,” Carroll added. “These results show that probably wouldn’t help. Pallone’s and Rush’s combined total in the Democratic primary still trails Booker’s tally almost 3-1.
“Observers also wondered why Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, like Booker, an Essex County pol, decided to run. She’s the weakest of the bunch.”
And regarding the GOP contenders:
“Steve Lonegan gets the bedrock Republican 30 percent, and not much more, against everyone,” Carroll said. “The Republican race looks even more one-sided than the Democratic primary; Alieta Eck hardly registers.”
New Jersey voters have a 56 – 16 percent favorable opinion of Booker, while 27 percent don’t know enough about him to form an opinion, the poll showed.
From July 2 – 7, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,068 New Jersey voters with a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones. The survey includes 400 Democrats with a margin of error of +/- 4.9 percentage points and 330 Republicans with a margin of error of +/- 5.4 percentage points.
