Susana Martinez (left, courtesy photo) and Diane Denish (photo by Heath Haussamen)
Days after both gubernatorial campaigns released polls showing Republican Susana Martinez in the lead, a new poll conducted for a Democratic group has Martinez and Democrat Diane Denish tied.
The new poll has both candidates at 46 percent with 7 percent of voters undecided. The poll, conducted by the left-leaning firm Third Eye Strategies between Tuesday and Thursday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points, according to the poll memo.
Last week, the Martinez campaign released an internal poll showing Martinez leading by 10 points. The Denish campaign responded by releasing its own internal poll showing Martinez leading by 5 points.
Both campaigns’ polls were conducted earlier in the month. The Third Eye Strategies poll, conducted for the left-leaning Vote New Mexico PAC, was released today by the Democratic Governors Association. The DGA said the poll shows that Denish is rebounding.
The poll memo states that the race is “highly competitive,” with Denish winning 84 percent of registered Democrats and Martinez winning 91 percent of registered Republicans. It states that Denish had the support of 61 percent of Hispanics to Martinez’s 30 percent.
Independents were split – 36 percent for Martinez, 35 percent for Denish and 29 percent undecided.
The poll found that 51 percent of voters have a favorable impression of both Denish and Martinez, while slightly more – 42 percent – view Denish unfavorably, compared to 38 percent for Martinez.
The memo suggests that Denish’s recent attack line – “Denish on the side of families, Martinez on the side of powerful interests” – is “resonating with New Mexico voters.”
“If Denish can keep her high level support with Democrats, turn them out, and win over undecided DTS voters, it’s difficult to see a clear path to victory for Martinez given the way registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in New Mexico,” the memo from Third Eye Strategies’ Stephen Clermont states.