November Election Poll: State Offices

| 10/10/2012

The latest NBC North Dakota News poll is showing that Republican incumbents are getting good reviews from state citizens. The poll, conducted last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday asked 625 likely voters who they would vote for if the election was being held now.

Governor Jack Dalrymple, seeking his first full term as head of state, holds a commanding 62 to 24 lead over Democratic challenger Ryan Taylor. Thirteen percent of those polled are still undecided. Dalrymple has strong demographics across the board showing a similar advantage among men and women voters and in all regions of the state.

Dalrymple has huge numbers with those who say they are Republicans, there he beats Taylor by a 94 to 3 margin. Democrats apparently have not lined up as well behind their candidate, Taylor. He only has a 66 to 22 lead over Dalrymple there. Among the all important independent voters, Dalrymple has a nice 61 to 23 lead.

In the race for state teasurer, Republican incumbent, Kelly Schmidt, is outpolling her Democratic challenger, Ross Mushik by almost a 2 to 1 margin. The NBC North Daktoa News poll has her leading 47 to 24 percent with 29 percent of the voters still undecided.

The incumbent in the state auditor`s office also has a sizeable lead at this point. Republican Robert Peterson has a 50 to 30 per cent advantage over his Democratic challenger, Scott Kelsh. Twenty percent of the voters are undecided about this race.

Republican insurance commissioner Adam Hamm has an even larger lead over Democratic challenger Tom Potter. The numbers show him up in the race 57 percent to 30 percent with 13 percent undecided.

And in the battle for Superintendent of Public Instruction, former U.S. Senate candidate Tracy Potter is holding a 40 percent to 30 percent advantage over Kristin Baesler.

Tomorrow we will look at a couple of measures on the statewide ballot and see what voters are thinking on smoking in public and animal cruelty.

The NBC North Dakota News poll, commissioned with Mason Dixon, has an error factor of plus or minus four points.

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