Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Rep. Sean Maloney (D-NY) trails his Republican challenger, New York State Assemblyman Colin Schmitt, according to a recent poll.
The race for New York’s 18th congressional district is close, but Schmitt has the edge over Maloney. The survey found that 38 percent of voters would prefer Schmitt compared to Maloney’s 37 percent.
According to BK Strategies’s poll analysis:
Given that Schmitt has so far done no paid advertising and is largely unfamiliar to a majority of the district, the combination of Schmitt‘s current lead, the challenging political environment for Democrats in NY-18 and Maloney‘s lack of voter support all strongly indicate that the district is poised to flip in the November election.
Schmitt is ahead in the polls even though his opponent’s campaign has more than $1 million cash on hand. Schmitt has approximately $257,000 cash on hand, compared to Maloney’s $1.7 million.
The Washington Times first reported on the poll.
Mr. Schmitt said the poll shows Mr. Maloney has “placed his role as Nancy Pelosi’s Democrat campaign chairman ahead of the values and interests of his own constituents.”
“Hudson Valley voters want someone who will represent them in Congress, instead of advancing the Democrats’ national political agenda,” he said in a statement.
Additionally, the poll found that 39 percent of voters would rather see someone other than Maloney in office, compared to just 28 percent who would vote to reelect Maloney. Maloney is also losing ground with independent voters. Among independents, 43 percent said they would rather see a fresh face, and 75 percent believe the nation is on the wrong track.
The poll surveyed 300 voters in New York’s 18th Congressional district. The poll was conducted from February 5 – 7 and has a +/-5.7 percent margin of error.