Republican Joe Cannon still leads among all candidates in the U.S. Senate race, the latest Deseret News/KSL-TV poll shows, but in a head-to-head primary against Bob Bennett, Cannon's support has dropped a bit.
Cannon has led in the race since early spring, when Democrat Wayne Owens' House banking prob-lems led to a significant drop in the polls for him.In the latest survey, conducted by Dan Jones & Associates, Cannon has 29 percent support, Owens is second at 23 percent, then comes Bennett at 19 percent, then Democrat Doug Anderson at 9 percent. One percent said they wouldn't vote for any of the candidates and 18 percent are undecided.
In an April 21-23 poll, Cannon got 36 percent of the vote against all other candidates.
Cannon finished first in the state GOP convention, Bennett second. Owens nearly eliminated Anderson in the Democratic convention but fell eight votes short. Thus, Cannon and Bennett and Owens and Anderson face each other in party primary elections Sept. 8.
In the GOP matchup, Cannon leads Bennett among all Utahns 42-31 percent with 21 percent undecided. Among those who told Jones they are Republicans, Cannon leads 47-33 percent with 17 percent undecided. Among those who told Jones they are likely to vote in the Republican primary, Cannon leads 48-35 percent with 15 percent undecided.
Any registered voter can vote in any party's primary. But with party primary races for both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate and governor's races, most political observers feel there will be little crossover voting.
In what may be seen as a bit of a surprise, Anderson does better than Owens in a Democratic primary among all Utahns. Jones found Anderson has 40 percent support to Owens' 35 percent. But a demographic breakout shows that much of Anderson's support comes from Republicans and conservatives.
Among those who said they are Democrats, Owens leads Anderson 55-33 percent with only 10 percent undecided. Among those who said they are likely to vote in the Democratic primary, Owens leads Anderson 54-34 percent with only 10 percent undecided.
Anderson may hope Republicans and conservative independents move into the Democratic primary and vote for him, but it's more likely they will vote in the GOP primary.
In a possible final election matchup, Cannon leads Owens 51 percent to 30 percent with 15 percent undecided. In April, such a matchup showed Cannon at 57 percent to Owens' 31 percent.
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(Chart)
Deseret News/KSL-TV poll
If the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate were held today for whom would you vote?
Doug Anderson 40%
Wayne Owens 35%
Other/neither 8%
Don't know 18%
Combining all Senate candidates?
Joe Cannon (R) 29%
Wayne Owens (D) 23%
Robert Bennett (R) 19%
Doug Anderson (D) 9%
None 1%
Don't know 18%
If the Republican primary for U.S. Senate were held today for whom would you vote?
Joe Cannon 42%
Robert Bennett 31%
Other/neither 7%
Don't know 21%
If it were between Cannon and Owens?
Joe Cannon (R) 51%
Wayne Owens (D) 30%
Neither 3%
Don't know 15%
Conducted June 30-July 1, 1992, Sample size: 600. Error: +/- 4%
Copyright 1991 Deseret News,
Conducted by Dan Jones & Associates.