Democrat Ben McAdams is in his strongest position yet against Republican Rep. Mia Love, according to a new poll by UtahPolicy.com.
The results, released Friday, show Love, the incumbent, ahead by only 3 percentage points, with the support of 49 percent of likely voters compared to 46 percent for McAdams.
The poll, conducted by Dan Jones and Associates between Aug. 22 and Sept. 6, included responses from 400 likely voters in the state’s 4th Congressional District, according to UtahPolicy.com. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
Y2 Analytics managing partner Scott Riding, Love’s internal pollster, said that every public survey of the race has shown Love ahead of McAdams.
“Congresswoman Love is laser-focused on serving her constituents,” Riding said, “and we trust that the voters of the 4th District will continue to support her great work.”
McAdams' campaign has stated that its internal polling showed the Salt Lake County mayor within 2 percentage points of Love. But the new numbers from UtahPolicy.com are the best showing yet for McAdams by independent surveys of the race.
The UtahPolicy.com poll was released on the heels of a poll by the Utah Debate Commission — conducted between Aug. 11 and Aug. 27 — that showed McAdams trailing by 9.2 percentage points.
And in June, polling by The Salt Lake Tribune and Hinckley Institute of Politics showed a 6-point lead for Love.
Andrew Roberts, McAdams' campaign manager, said the new poll mirrors what the campaign is seeing internally.
“The independents who are going to decide this race prefer Ben’s bipartisan approach to problem-solving,” Roberts said, "and are deeply troubled by Representative Love’s ethical shortcomings and her support for President Trump.”
According to UtahPolicy.com, its poll found Love with the support of 83 percent of Republican voters, while McAdams had the support of 94 percent of Democrats. Unaffiliated voters favored McAdams by a margin of 62 percent to 31 percent.
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