Poll: Foley Over Fedele In GOP Primary?

Internal polling paid for by Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley shows him beating Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele in a Republican primary.

The poll conducted by The Tarrance Group shows out of 500 “likely” Republican primary voters, 33 percent have indicated they would vote for Foley, while just 14 percent indicate they would vote for Fedele. About 55 percent of those polled are still undecided.

The poll found that Foley leads Fedele by 10 points or more in every single region of the state, and leads Fedele by 16 points among seniors and by 13 points among “very conservative” Republicans.

The poll also found that Foley’s name awareness is 39 points higher than Fedele’s and that Foley already has 74 percent name awareness.

Prior to deciding to run for governor, Foley had been a candidate for the U.S. Senate and as such had used millions of dollars on paid television advertisements.

The Fedele campaign is disputing the credibility of the internal poll.

“Not only was this an internal poll paid for by Tom Foley, it also included ‘push’ poll questions where callers guide those being polled with a series of favorable statements about their candidate,” Chris Cooper, Fedele campaign spokesman, said.

Cooper said the voters of Connecticut are “smart and the election for Governor will be decided by the issues and especially, by the qualifications of the candidates.”

In addition to Foley and Fedele, a few more Republicans may be jumping into the race. Shelton First Selectman Mark Lauretti has expressed interest and it’s possible Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton may get into the race too. Boughton is expected to make an announcement February. MetroHartford Alliance Chief Oz Griebel has also expressed an interest in the office.