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Vote Now In Our Poll: Gap Tightening In CT Race For Governor

As the Republican underdogs predicted, the gap is closing between GOP-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Mark Boughton, the mayor of Danbury, and at least two of the Connecticut high-tech entrepreneurs, investors and business executives who have poured millions of their own money into primary election challenges.

Four of the five finalists in the Republican Party primary for governor at a recent debate. The primary election is on Tuesday, Aug. 14.

Four of the five finalists in the Republican Party primary for governor at a recent debate. The primary election is on Tuesday, Aug. 14.

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Jon Craig
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Poll
Who do you plan to vote for in the governor's primary race?
Final Results Voting Closed

Who do you plan to vote for in the governor's primary race?

  • Democrat Joe Ganim
    4%
  • Democrat Ned Lamont
    18%
  • Republican Mark Boughton
    13%
  • Republican Tim Herbst
    6%
  • Republican Steve Obsitnik
    10%
  • Republican Bob Stefanowski
    13%
  • Republican David Stemerman
    24%
  • None of the above
    2%
  • Undecided
    9%

The primary election is on Tuesday, Aug. 14. You can request an absentee ballot until Monday, Aug. 13, but registration closed at noon on Thursday, Aug. 9.

There is a separate primary runoff that pits two Democrats -- Ned Lamont of Greenwich and Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim -- against one another to fill the seat of two-term Governor Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat who is not seeking re-election.

Republican Bob Stefanowski of Madison, a former business executive, has appeared in TV ads most of this year. 

David Stemerman, who closed his Greenwich hedge fund to run, started buying ads after the May GOP party convention. In recent months, both of their self-funded campaigns have focused attacks on one another while closing the gap on Boughton.

Their TV ad battle combined with candidates running digital Internet testimonials and TV commercials in July appears to have narrowed Boughton's lead, according to recent polls.

A July 23 poll conducted for Stefanowski by McLaughlin & Associates indicated support from 29 percent of likely Republican primary voters, ahead of Boughton’s 18 percent and Stemerman’s 17 percent, a source told the Connecticut Post in this article. 

Meanwhile, GOP candidates Tim Herbst, a former Trumbull first selectman, and Steve Obsitnik, a Westport tech entrepreneur, reportedly trailed the others in that internal campaign poll.

Stemerman recently told Daily Voice that his campaign is comfortable with its own internal polling numbers that showed him gaining on Boughton.

“It’s all about your momentum and where you’re going to push,” Stemerman told news reporters after a recent debate. Stemerman echoed an earlier Daily Voice interview by saying he liked "the trajectory of where we are going."

Herbst also has said his own campaign polling numbers are surging.

Boughton’s campaign, meanwhile, thinks the Danbury mayor remains in a good position to win Tuesday's primary.

According to media reports, Matt Joiner, Obsitnik's campaign manager, questioned the July 23rd poll's methodology, wording and sample size -- which he said was too small for a race involving five candidates.

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