A new poll by the University of New Hampshire shows Democratic challenger Helena Foulkes widening her advantage over Gov. Dan McKee.
Among likely Democratic primary voters, 45% of respondents said they would vote for Foulkes if the primary was held today, while 11% preferred McKee, and 3% back restaurateur Greg Stevens. Thirty-nine percent of voters were undecided.
The poll, taken in March, shows an 11 percentage-point bump for Foulkes from UNH’s February poll.
The new findings come with a little more than four months until the Sept. 9 primary.
According to the poll, 76% of respondents disapprove of McKee’s job performance. Among Democrats, 24% approve of his job performance, compared with 17% among all Rhode Island respondents.
The survey found that 75% of Democrats disapprove of McKee’s handling of roads and bridges – suggesting that the Washington Bridge continues to shadow him.
In the race for U.S. Senate, UNH found that incumbent Sen. Jack Reed has 65% of the support, Democratic rival Connor Burbridge has 15% and 20% of respondents were undecided.
Compared with Republican candidate Raymond McKay, Reed has 52% of the backing and McKay 34%.
Sixty-one percent of respondents approve of Reed, according to the survey.
The primary findings were based on responses from 328 likely primary voters and have a 5.4 percentage point margin of error.
Asked about the most important issue facing Rhode Island, 21% cited housing, 15% picked jobs/economy or cost of living, and 11% chose infrastructure.
