{"id":35899,"date":"2012-01-30T10:31:59","date_gmt":"2012-01-30T17:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=35899"},"modified":"2012-01-31T08:15:51","modified_gmt":"2012-01-31T15:15:51","slug":"heinrich%e2%80%99s-poll-gives-him-a-big-lead-over-balderas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/01\/heinrich%e2%80%99s-poll-gives-him-a-big-lead-over-balderas\/","title":{"rendered":"Heinrich\u2019s poll gives him a big lead over Balderas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hector<\/a>

Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Hector Balderas, left, and Martin Heinrich<\/p><\/div>\n

The internal poll has Heinrich leading by 30 points; among voters who can identify both candidates, he leads Balderas by 23.<\/h4>\n

Six weeks after an independent poll showed Hector Balderas<\/a> gaining ground on Martin Heinrich<\/a> in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary, a poll released today by Heinrich\u2019s campaign shows him having a big lead over Balderas.<\/p>\n

The poll, conducted for the Heinrich campaign by the firm Gerstein, Bocain, Agne Strategies<\/a>, has Heinrich leading Balderas by 30 points \u2013 52 percent to 22 percent \u2013 with 26 percent undecided. Among voters who can identify both candidates, Heinrich led by 23 points, 51 percent to 28 percent, with 21 percent undecided.<\/p>\n

You can read the poll memo here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In mid-December, a poll<\/a> from the left-leaning Public Policy Polling had Heinrich leading Balderas by 17 points, 47 percent to 30 percent. That was an improvement for Balderas from\u00a0the last time<\/a>\u00a0PPP polled and Heinrich led 47-24. It was noteworthy at the time that Heinrich didn\u2019t move any closer to 50 percent while Balderas gained.<\/p>\n

But that poll sampled 309 people, compared with the new poll\u2019s sample of 600 likely Democratic primary voters in New Mexico, which was conducted between Jan. 8 and 11. The new poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the new Heinrich poll has lots of good news for Heinrich and little for Balderas. Here\u2019s more from the poll memo:<\/p>\n