It's A Dead Heat! Markey, Gomez Enter Final Stretch of MA Senate Race

As Republican Gabriel Gomez and Democrat Ed Markey enter the final stretch in the Massachusetts senate race to fill John Kerry’s vacancy, the polls are obviously in limbo.  Some have Markey in the lead, while others show Gomez coming up from behind.  As a result, President Obama and Debbie Wasserman Schultz are being deployed to the Bay State to prevent another Republican upset, and inject a shot of life into Markey’s slothful campaign.  According to pollster John McLaughlin, this race is undeniably a dead heat – and one that could potentially end in embarrassment for the Democratic Party.

Survey Summary:

The results of our survey show the new comer, Republican Gabriel Gomez, has stolen the momentum in the special election to be held on June 25th.   Gomez and long time Democratic Congressman Ed Markey are in a statistical dead heat, with Gomez receiving 44.3%, Markey 45.3%, and 10.5% undecided.

**If the special election were held today, which one of the following best describes how you are likely to vote in the special election for United States Senate between (ROTATE) Gabriel Gomez, the Republican candidate and Ed Markey, the Democratic candidate?

TOTAL
COMBO GABRIEL GOMEZ                    44%
Definitely Vote Gomez                                31%
Probably Vote  Gomez                                 10%
Lean  Gomez                                                  4%

COMBO ED MARKEY                               45%
Definitely Vote Markey                               28%
Probably Vote  Markey                               11%
Lean  Markey                                                6%

UNDECIDED                                                 11%

**Ed Markey’s high unfavorable ratings are clearly impacting his ballot rating.  With a one-to-one favorable to unfavorable rating, Ed Markey will have a difficult time increasing his ballot share.  What’s more, the intensity lies with Markey’s unfavorable rating, as the plurality of voters, 29%, is “very unfavorable” to Markey.

Opinion Ed Markey
TOTAL 

FAVORABLE                                                   42%
Very Favorable                                              18%
Somewhat Favorable                                   25%

UNFAVORABLE                                              42%
Somewhat Unfavorable                               13%
Very Unfavorable                                           29%

NEVER HEARD OF                                        14%
NO OPINION                                                     2%

**Conversely, nearly half of the voters, 48%, are favorable to Gabriel Gomez, and he receives a relatively low unfavorable rating of 27%.  With a high favorable rating and low unfavorable rating, Gabriel Gomez is giving the voters a strong alternative to Ed Markey.

Opinion Gabriel Gomez:

 TOTAL

FAVORABLE                                                     48%
Very Favorable                                                 21%
Somewhat Favorable                                     28%

UNFAVORABLE                                              27%
Somewhat Unfavorable                                12%
Very Unfavorable                                            5%

NEVER HEARD OF                                         22%
NO OPINION                                                       3%

CONCLUSION
With less than 3 weeks to go to Election Day, Gabriel Gomez has the momentum in the race.  Gomez’s high favorable ratings will be a strong asset over Markey’s high unfavorable ratings in this neck-and-neck race.