Republican Mike Leavitt has moved ahead in the Utah governor's race, the latest Deseret News/KSL-TV poll shows.
Leavitt, who finished second behind fellow Republican Richard Eyre in last month's Republican state convention, goes ahead of Independent Party candidate Merrill Cook for the first time, found pollster Dan Jones & Associates.Jones found that among the five major candidates for governor, Leavitt gets 21 percent support, Cook is second at 19 percent, and Eyre comes next with 15 percent support. Trailing the pack are the Democrats. Pat Shea has 7 percent support, and Stewart Hanson has 6 percent support.
Nearly a third of Utahns, 31 percent, are still undecided. One percent mentioned someone else and 1 percent said they wouldn't vote for any of the five candidates, Jones found. The poll of 600 Utahns has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.
In the past, Cook had been ahead when all candidates were considered.
In primary election matchups, Jones found that Leavitt leads Eyre among the general public, among Republicans and among those who told Jones they're likely to vote in the Republican gubernatorial primary.
The Democratic primary is mixed, however. Jones found that Hanson and Shea are neck-and-neck among different groups, with Hanson leading slightly among the general public and those who said they'd vote in a Democratic primary, but Shea is slightly ahead among those who said they are Democrats.
Cook is unchallenged within his party; he has no primary election.
With primary contests in both the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. Senate and governor's races and a primary for Republicans in the 2nd Congressional District as well, most political observers believe that there'll be little crossover voting come Sept. 8.
That is, Republicans will choose the GOP primary ballot and Democrats will choose their party's ballot. Utah has an open primary system - any registered voter can vote in any party's primary. But you can't split ticket in a primary - for example, you can't vote in the Republican Senate primary and then vote in the Democratic governor's primary. You can only vote in one party.
Jones found that among all Utahns, Leavitt leads Eyre in a Republican primary, 37-22 percent. Among those who said they are Republicans, Leavitt leads 38-28 percent. And among those who said they're likely to vote in the Republican primary, Leavitt leads Eyre 40-32 percent.
Interestingly enough, there is a gender gap in the GOP primary race. Eyre and his wife, Linda, are well-known writers and lecturers on the family, hosting a TV show on KBYU Channel 11 before he got in the race. While Leavitt still gets more of the female vote than Eyre, the numbers are much closer than with male voters.
Shea and Hanson are virtually tied in the Democratic primary. Across the spectrum of demographic break-outs, the two vary only several percentage points. With 51 percent of the general populace undecided, this is clearly either man's race to win.
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(Poll)
Deseret News/KSL-TV poll
If the election for governor were held today and the candidates were Merrill Cook, Richard Eyre, Mike Leavitt, pat Shea and Stewart Hanson Jr., for whom would you vote?
Mike Leavitt (R) 21%
Merrill Cook (I) 19%
Richard Eyre (R) 15%
Pat Shea (D) 7%
Stewart Hanson Jr. (D) 6%
Other 1%
None 1%
Don't know 31%
Conducted June 30 - July 1, 1992. Sample size 600. Error: +/-4%
Copyright Deseret News. Conducted by Dan Jones & Associates