WV-GOV GQR Poll Tomblin 31 Tennant 27 Perdue 14

by: Clem Guttata

Mon Mar 21, 2011 at 11:09:33 AM EDT

Tennant creeping up on Tomblin: West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant (D) is neck and neck with acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D) in a new poll set to be released by Tennant's campaign today.

The poll, which was conducted by Greenberg Quinlian Rosner and obtained by The Fix, shows Tomblin at 31 percent in the special election Democratic primary, with Tennant close behind at 27 percent. Among Democratic primary voters, the two have identical 45 percent favorable ratings and similar unfavorables (12 percent for Tennant and 15 percent for Tomblin).

But they're not the only candidates in the race. State Treasurer John Perdue is at 14 percent on the ballot test, while two other candidates are at 5 percent.

The poll shows Tennant in better position than a poll conducted for Tomblin's campaign a month ago, which had Tomblin at 35 percent and Tennant at 22.

The primary will be held May 14, with the special election set for Oct. 4. The favorite on the GOP side is former Secretary of State Betty Ireland.

Update: More details from the campaign website.

For Immediate Release
March 21, 2011

Charleston, W.Va. - West Virginia Secretary of State and candidate for governor Natalie Tennant today released an internal poll showing that she begins the Democratic primary campaign with the best standing of any candidate. Building on her high favorability rating and name recognition, the poll illustrates that the more voters know Tennant, the more they like her.

"This poll shows that the more folks learn about Natalie Tennant, the more they like her, and the more they want to elect her governor. As we connect with voters across West Virginia, our campaign only continues to gain momentum. As governor, Natalie will fight for the people's interest and work to bring greater fiscal accountability to our government, just as she's done as Secretary of State," said Julie Sweet, Tennant's campaign manager.

Tennant's poll, which surveyed 600 likely primary voters by telephone from March 10th-15th, shows that she begins with the strongest standing of any candidate in the Democratic primary field - with a 45% favorability rating and 73% name recognition. The margin of error is 4.0 percentage points. A memo on the poll is available here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/51181398/Tennant-Well-Positioned-for-WV-Governor-Race.

Among voters who can identify Tennant and Earl Ray Tomblin, Tennant leads with 34 percent of the vote compared to 31 percent for Tomblin. Among all voters, Tomblin (31 percent) and Tennant (27 percent) start off right next to each other, followed by John Perdue (14 percent), Jeff Kessler (5 percent), and Rick Thompson (5 percent). Nineteen percent of voters are undecided.

For more information about Tennant's campaign, visit www.natalietennant.com.