Attorney General Martha Coakley leadsn her closest Democratic contender for governor, Treasurer Steve Grossman, by 45 to 14 percent in a primary match-up poll. Leading Republican Charlie Baker is behind Coakley 41 to 26 percent in a head-to-head contest.
The March numbers are very similar to the WBUR poll taken in January where Coakley led Baker 32 to 29 percent. It is still an early stage were voters know less about most candidates.
“I think a poll, you know, in March of an election year is really a reflection of name recognition,” said Peter Ubertaccio, a political scientist and director of the Joseph Martin Institute for Law & Society at Stonehill College.
In the pole conducted by MassINC, three in four voters had never heard of the three other Democratic candidates for governor: homeland security expert Juliette Kayyem, pediatrician and healthcare professional Don Berwick, and surgeon, entrepreneur and healthcare executive Joe Avellone.
Independents Jeff McCormick and Evan Falchuk are not well known either.
Currently, the Democratic race is focused on party activists that will hold the Democrat state convention in June. The three lesser known candidates Kayyem, Berwick and Avellone hope to gain more attention but don’t expect to break-out like Gov. Deval Patrick did in 2006 as an unknown. Candidates have to win support of 15 percent of the convention to qualify for the primary ballot in September.
Coakley’s strong backing is largely due to bother her high-profile gig as attorney general and her strong showing among women. She leads 47 percent to ten percent among women in the Democratic primary match-up and 44 percent to 20 percent over Baker. The Bay State has never elected a women to the governors office though Jane Swift did serve as acting governor from 2001 to 2003.
“I would like to see Martha get the job for a couple of reasons – because I think she’s the most qualified and also to finally break the glass ceiling here,” said poll respondent Cecilia Taney, an unemployed saleswoman from North Andover, in a follow-up interview with WBUR.
Baker currently has a strong lead over the other Democrats with a 32 to 24 percent lead over Grossman, 36 to 17 percent lead ver Berwick and 34 to 19 percent lead over Kayyem.
U.S. Senator Ed Markey leads his closest Republican candidate by 50 to 29 percent. Markey won a special election in June to fill the senate seat vacated by John Kerry when he was appointed as secretary of state. The two Republicans running against Markey, Brian Herr and Frank Addivinola are virtual unknowns. Addivinola ran for Markey’s former House of Representatives seat but lost to Katherine Clarke.
The poll also asked Massachusetts voters about what they think about Scott Brown moving to New Hampshire. A solid 40 percent said that it was a good idea and 31 percent thought it was a bad idea.
This WBUR telephone poll was conducted March 14-16 of 500 likely 2014 general election voters via landline and cellular telephones. There is a margin of sampling error of 4.4 percent.
Image via SouthBostonToday.com
