New Quinnipiac Poll: Connecticut Gov. Malloy Trails Republican Challenger Tom Foley by 6 Pts

Results of a new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday find incumbent Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-WFP) trailing his challenger, Republican Tom Foley, by six points, 46-40 percent.

Researchers surveyed 1,304 likely voters with a margin of error of +2.7 percentage points.

Foley, those surveyed said, would do a better job than Malloy in handling the economy and jobs, and government spending.

According to the poll, Foley leads among Republicans, 82-9 percent, and among Independents, 48-35 percent. Malloy leads with Democrats 77-10 percent.

Independent candidate Joe Visconti received seven percent of the vote of survey participants. Without Visconti, researchers say Foley leads Malloy 49-43 percent.

The poll indicates that 69 percent of Connecticut voters say their mind is set regarding their choice for governor.

“In our first likely voter poll, Tom Foley has the edge, but Gov. Dannel Malloy is certainly within striking distance,” said Douglas Schwartz, PhD, director of the Quinnipiac University poll. “Foley has a double-digit lead among the key swing group, independent voters. With eight weeks until Election Day, there are six percent undecided and another 30 percent who say they could change their mind.”

“A difficult problem for Malloy to overcome is his high negative favorability rating, as 53 percent say they have an unfavorable opinion of him, including 40 percent who say they have a strongly unfavorable opinion,” Schwartz added. “It is tough for a well-known incumbent to change voter opinion once formed. In contrast, only 33 percent have an unfavorable opinion of Foley.”