The candidate's showing in the survey for the 7-way GOP gubernatorial race improved from 2 weeks ago.
With six days to go before the primary, front-runner Douglas Forrester is 11 points ahead of Bret Schundler in the race for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, according to a poll released yesterday.
The West Windsor businessman, who ran for U.S. Senate in 2002, was the favored choice among 40 percent of likely Republican voters, compared with 29 percent for Schundler, a former Jersey City mayor who ran for governor in 2001, according to the independent Quinnipiac University poll. The poll has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 6 percentage points.
The percentages mirrored those among likely voters who were asked which candidate's property tax plan they favored - 40 percent favored Forrester's, 29 percent Schundler's. Thirty-one percent did not know.
In Quinnipiac's last poll, released May 19, Forrester led by 39 percent to 33 percent among likely GOP primary voters.
"Bret Schundler seems to be fading in the stretch as Douglas Forrester stays on pace in the Republican race for governor," said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "But this is the type of a primary where surprises happen and an unexpected small turnout can produce unexpected results."
According to Richards, New Jersey Republicans are less than thrilled with the field in the seven-way gubernatorial primary, as evidenced by the fact that 42 percent of those polled said they might still change their minds.
The poll, taken May 22-29, surveyed 302 likely voters in the June 7 Republican primary.
Among its findings:
Financial adviser John Murphy, who was favored by 9 percent of those polled, led the rest of the field. Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan polled 4 percent and defense contractor Robert Schroeder 3 percent, while family businessman Todd Caliguire and construction company president Paul DiGaetano registered 2 percent each.
Twelve percent of the likely GOP primary voters contacted by Quinnipiac were undecided about who to vote for.
Respondents said Forrester had a better chance than Schundler - 56 percent to 27 percent - to beat presumptive Democratic nominee U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine in the Nov. 8 general election. Corzine faces two relatively unknown challengers - telecommunications worker James D. Kelly Jr. and schoolteacher Francis X. Tenaglio - in the Democratic primary.
Among Forrester voters, 59 percent said their minds were made up, while 40 percent said they might change; Schundler had a smaller but more solid base, with 65 percent of his supporters set on voting for him while 35 percent said they might change.
If it were a two-way race between Forrester and Schundler, Forrester was favored by 48 percent to 40 percent, a slight lead, given the poll's sampling error margin.
