Former Ambassador Tom Foley leads the large Republican field running for governor and is essentially tied with Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday.
Foley, the GOP’s 2010 nominee, captures 36 percent of the Republican vote, the poll found. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton is next, with 11 percent. No other Republican candidate tops 6 percent. But there is room for movement: the poll found about a third of the Republican electorate remains undecided.
Malloy, who is nearing the end of his first term, has yet to formally announce whether he will seek reelection in November. But most observers expect he will run.
Voters are sharply divided on his performance as governor: 48 percent approve of the job he is doing while 45 percent disapprove, according to the poll.
In a head to head match up between Foley and Malloy, the poll found that once again, there is a significant gender gap, with women backing the Democrat, 45 to 37 percent, while men chose Foley, 48 to 37 percent.
The poll of 1,878 registered voters was conducted from Feb. 26 to March 2. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent.
It is the first time Quinnipiac has conducted a poll on the Connecticut governor’s race since June 2013.
By Daniela Altimari, Hartford Courant