Laffey Leads Chafee in RI

A lot has been said about the defeat of Lieberman in CT by Ned Lamont and how this shows that the Democratic party has drifted to far to the left...

Well, I guess the GOP tent is not as large as they thought either. GOP primary contender, Steve Laffey, has taken a commanding lead over Senator Chafee (51%-34%) with likely GOP primary voters.

Surprisingly, this is even after the National Republican Committee has come out and run ads against Laffey.

At this point, the only saving grace for Chafee is that independents can vote in the GOP primary. This would give moderates the chance to beat back the far right wing factions that are supporting Laffey.

Laffey Takes Commanding Lead in Republican U. S. Senate Primary

Date Posted: August 31, 2006

U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee may lose his seat to challenger Steve Laffey, according to a new statewide Republican primary voter poll released today by the Bureau of Government Research and Services at Rhode Island College.

The survey was conducted August 28-30, 2006, at Rhode Island College by Victor L. Profughi, director of the Bureau of Government Research and Services. It is based on a statewide random sample of 363 likely Republican primary voters in Rhode Island. The sample was proportioned among the state’s geographic regions to reflect the likely voter contribution from each portion of the state. Overall, the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.1 percentage points.

If the September 12 primary were held today, 51 percent say they will vote for Steve Laffey, 34 percent support Senator Chafee, and 15 percent are undecided. A BGRS survey of Republican voters conducted in June had Laffey at 39 percent and Chafee at 36 percent. Chafee’s base is virtually unchanged since the June survey, while the number of Laffey supporters has grown 12 percentage points.

In the current poll, Laffey buries Chafee among male voters by nearly a 2 to 1 margin, 58 percent to 32 percent, with only 9 percent undecided. This gap has widened from 10 percent in June to 26 percent today. Among women, Chafee’s support has remained stagnant, while Laffey’s has increased. In June, 37 percent favored Chafee, compared with the current 36 percent. Laffey’s support among women has gone up from 35 percent in June to 45 percent.

(Full Story)

H/T - TPM