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Van Drew loses ground in new Stockton poll Wednesday, October 16, 2013 10:56 am

CHRISTIE ROTONDO

GALLOWAY— A Stockton poll released Tuesday found that the gap between candidates in the 1st District Senate race is narrowing, but only slightly.

Democratic incumbent Sen. Jeff Van Drew now holds 58 percent points against Republican challenger Susan Adelizzi-Schmidt’s 29 points, according to the poll.

Just last month, the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton announced that Van Drew had 62 percentage points and Adelizzi-Schmidt had

29.

Six percent were unsure, with another 6 percent saying they will vote for someone else or no one at all, or refused to identify their candidate.

“In the 2011 race for state Senate, Van Drew had large lead in first poll, a reduced lead in a second poll, but managed a 54 to 46 percent margin of victory on Election Day,” said Daniel J. Douglas, director of the William J. Hughes Center in a release.

The poll found that Adelizzi-Schmidt is still relatively unknown to voters in the 1st Legislative District, despite weeks of fall campaigning. According to the poll’s results, 66 percent of those polled, 63 percent were unfamiliar with her. Only 12 percent are unfamiliar with Van Drew, a former state assemblyman who moved to the Senate in 2007.

The race for state Assembly continues to be tight. Democrat incumbent Albano leads all candidates with 25 percent, and Assembly running mate Andrzejczak is second at 22 percent. Republicans Sam Fiocchi and Kristine Gabor garner 18 percent and 17 percent, respectively.

The poll found that Albano is the best known of the four Assembly candidates. Only 22 percent are not familiar with Albano, whereas 49 percent are not familiar with Andrzejczak. The GOP candidates are unknown by more than 50 percent. When Republican candidates first entered the race, leaders in the party said that being in the same party as Gov. Chris Christie would most likely give them an advantage in the election, which is just under three weeks away.

The Stockton poll found that voters aren’t as concerned with whom Christie endorses, or shares his party as Republicans may have thought. “The strength of the governor’s margin does not seem to be helping down ballot Republican candidates,” said Douglas. Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) say an endorsement of a legislative candidate by Christie would have no effect on their vote, the poll found.

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Page 1 of 3Van Drew loses ground in new Stockton poll | Cape May County Elections

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Christie’s lead over Democratic challenger Barbara Buono in the gubernatorial race still continues to widen. The governor leads Buono 66 percent to 27 percent, with 7.5 percent undecided or refusing to answer. According to the poll, both Van Drew is garnering a significant percentage of voters from his opponents’ party bases. While 30 percent of 1st District Republicans say they are voting for Van Drew; only 4 percent of Democrats support Adelizzi-Schmidt.

In the district, the poll found that 43 percent of Democrats support the Republican governor.

The government shutdown may also be playing a role in the 1st District race, according to the poll, which the Hughes Center said was conducted amid continuing news coverage of the shutdown. More than one in three respondents (35 percent) blamed Republicans in Congress for the shutdown, while 21 percent blamed President Obama and 4 percent blamed Democrats in Congress. Thirty-eight percent blamed “all of the above equally.”

“The negative feelings about the federal government shutdown could be making it a somewhat more difficult election environment for Republicans,” Douglas said.

The poll was conducted with 613 potential voters from Oct. 11 to 13, and the center said that interviewers called both land lines and cell phones.

Page 2 of 3Van Drew loses ground in new Stockton poll | Cape May County Elections

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Last Updated on Wednesday, October 16, 2013 11:03 am

Page 3 of 3Van Drew loses ground in new Stockton poll | Cape May County Elections

10/30/2013http://www.shorenewstoday.com/snt/news/index.php/cape-may-county-elections/45290-v...