A poll from the Siena Research Institute of voters in the 10th Congressional District indicates that James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, holds a 12-point lead on his opponent, Scott Murphy, D-Glens Falls, in a special election to be held March 31.
The poll, released today, indicates that 46 percent of voters support Tedisco while 34 favor Murphy. One-in-five indicated they remain undecided.
The results differ in when compared to a Feb. 5 poll by Public Opinion Strategies (and commissioned by the Tedisco campaign) indicating a 50 to 29 lead for Tedisco.
The Murphy campaign has latched on to that disparity, arguing that the Siena poll indicates the businessman’s growing momentum.
Voters have grown increasingly disenchanted with career Albany politician Jim Tedisco’s desperate and misleading campaign attacks, and stubborn refusal to back President Obama’s economic agenda, said Ryan Rudominer, spokesman for the Murphy campaign, in a statement.
Joshua Fitzpatrick, spokesman for the Tedisco campaign, noted his candidate holds a 14-point lead over Murphy in the minds of independent voters in the poll.
`It’s very difficult for Scott Murphy to win if he cannot close that gap,` said Fitzpatrick.
The poll indicated that voters overwhelmingly consider the economy to be the most important issue they want their Congressional representatives working on (61 percent), followed by health care (11 percent), ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (nine percent), homeland security (seven percent), education (six percent) and bringing more Federal money into the district (three percent).
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