An Emerson College poll released Tuesday found Gov. Ned Lamont with a 10 point advantage over his Republican opponent Bob Stefanowski with just under two months left before Election Day.
Emerson College Polling performed the survey of 1,000 likely voters between Sept. 7 and Sept. 9 for WTNH and The Hill. The results suggest that Lamont leads Stefanowski 48.5% to 38.4% with 9% still undecided and 4% preferring someone else.
The poll finds Lamont with a stronger favorability rating among surveyed voters. Around 55% reported having a very favorable or somewhat favorable view of the incumbent Democrat while 40% reported unfavorable opinions. Meanwhile, voters were split on Stefanowski with 45% favoring him and 45% holding unfavorable views.
“For Gov. Lamont, what’s really driving this is his favorability. He’s got around a 53, 55% favorable rating here in the state, and Stefanowski is down in the mid-forties. And so that’s a strong place for the incumbent to be,’’ Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, told WTNH.
The survey represents the first polling results in the closely-watched governor’s race since May, when another WTNH poll showed a wider 50.5% to 38% lead for Lamont and a Quinnipiac University poll suggested the Democrat held a more narrow 8 point lead.
This week’s survey suggests more voters believed Lamont to be truthful. Asked to choose between the two candidates, 56.7% said they believed the current governor to be trustworthy while 43.3% believed Stefanowski to be trustworthy.
Lamont also appeared to have an advantage with women voters with 50% reporting they planned to support him and around 32% planning to support Stefanowski. Lamont also led among men by 47.2% versus 44.6%.
“There’s a big gender divide as well in Connecticut, where women are twice as likely to be voting essentially for the Democratic candidate than the males voting for the Republicans,’’ Kimball said.
The poll also suggests that the majority of Connecticut residents or 52.6% felt the state was “generally headed in the right direction” while 47.4% believed the state was on “the wrong track.”