Democratic Gov. Dan Malloy campaigns with Bill Clinton
Democratic Gov. Dan Malloy has not had an easy few years. In 2010 he narrowly beat Republican Tom Foley 50-49, and Foley is back for a rematch. The economic crisis has forced Malloy to make some tough decisions, and he's never been particularly popular even in this blue state. Recent polls have
not been kind to Malloy, and both parties are spending big here.
However, on Monday, PPP gave Team Blue some long-awaited good news. They found Malloy leading Foley 43-35. When supporters of independent Joe Visconti are asked to pick one of the two main contenders, Malloy's lead drops a little to 45-39. This is PPP's first look at the state this cycle and the first publicly released poll since mid-September: The group definitely deserves some thanks for taking a look at this important but woefully underpolled race.
Like everyone else, PPP finds that Malloy is unpopular, sporting a 40-50 job approval. However, Democrats have been working hard to portray Foley as a vulture capitalist, and the Republican has unintentionally helped make their job a lot easier. According to PPP, Foley sports a dire 34-49 favorable rating. As we've noted before, it's very hard to win in a state hostile to your party when you're the less popular candidate. The undecideds report voting for Obama and Romney in roughly equal numbers.
This is only one survey, and it's far too early to say that Malloy has opened up a clear lead after months of blech polling. Neither party has given any indication that they're willing to give up on this expensive state and Foley has more than enough resources to keep going. Democrats should be happy to get some long-awaited good news from the Nutmeg State, but we should wait for conformation from other sources before concluding that Malloy is the favorite here.
Want to help elect Dem governors nationwide? If so, click here and donate a few dollars.