TRENTON – Prepare for Booker vs. Lonegan. At least that is the finding Wednesday of the latest Quinnipiac University Poll, which foresees Newark Mayor Cory Booker and former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan squaring off in the U.S. Senate race.
According to the poll, with a primary looming on Aug. 13, Booker leads his three Democratic opponents with 54 percent. Meanwhile, Lonegan has a 74-10 lead over his challenger, Dr. Alieta Eck, in the GOP primary.
And looking toward the general election, the poll shows Booker leads Lonegan 54-29 percent.
“Unless the sky falls, Newark Mayor Cory Booker can start looking for a Washington apartment. He dominates both the Democratic primary and a general election against Steve Lonegan,” Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a release.
Regarding the three other Democratic primary candidates, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone has 17 percent of likely voters, U.S. Rep. Rush Holt has 15 percent, and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver has 5 percent. Only 8 percent of voters remain undecided.
Quinnipiac reported that this is its first measure of likely primary voters in this cycle.
In the general election matchup, Republicans back Lonegan 68–18 percent, but Booker leads among every other group and in every region of the state, ranging from a 46–38 percent lead among voters at the Shore to 72–14 percent among voters in urban areas.
From Aug. 1–5, Quinnipiac surveyed 2,042 New Jersey voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.2 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones. The survey includes 388 likely Democratic primary voters with a margin of error of +/- 5 percentage points and 257 likely Republican primary voters with a margin of error of +/- 6.1 percentage points.
