Source:
Daily KosWow! Two prior polls—one from Siena College, the other a Dem internal—showed this race extremely close, but this is the first survey to feature Kathy Hochul in the lead. The wild card, once again, is Crazy Jack Davis, the Republican-turned-Democrat-turned-teabagger who is unquestionably hurting Corwin more than Hochul. While 19% of Democrats say they favor Davis, 24% of Republicans do the same. Davis in fact seems to be squeezing Corwin from both sides: He siphons off a large chunk of self-described conservatives (29% to Corwin's 52%), and also runs better among independents (31-20). Hochul, however, does best among that group at 37, helping her nose into the lead.
The biggest question, of course, is whether a third-party rich guy vanity candidate like Davis can hold on to his share of the vote once people actually go to the polls. It seems like more often than not, characters like Davis see their support slide by election day—but that's just two weeks away, so perhaps he can hang on, given the short timeframe. Davis's favorables are less bad than I had expected, an even 43-43. Corwin, meanwhile, is slightly underwater at 39-42, while Hochul is the only one in positive territory at 46-40. If disaffected independents and grumpy teabaggers continue to decide they like Davis more than Corwin, Hochul really could snatch this one away from the GOP.
Read more:
http://www.dailykos.com/
...explaining why John Boehner is flying in to raise money and generate some enthusiasm for Corwin. I hope the DCCC is ready to match them.