The crowded Democratic field in the 1st Congressional District indicates some name ID residue for one candidate, but a wide-open race thanks to undecided voters.
Six candidates are seeking the Democratic nomination to replace retiring Cong. Marion Berry. The winner will face either Rick Crawford or Princella Smith, who are squaring off in a GOP primary.
Talk Business surveyed 472 registered voters in the 1st District who indicated their likelihood of voting in the Democratic primary on May 18th. The poll was conducted on April 6-7 and has a margin of error of +/-4.5%.
Arkansas CD1 – Democratic
18% Wooldridge
11% David Cook
9% Steve Bryles
9% Chad Causey
5% Ben Ponder
1% Terry Green
47% Undecided
You can view a pdf of our breakout of calls at this link. For more on our methodology, click here.
ANALYSIS: The story at this juncture in the campaign is that nearly half of the 1st District Democrats are undecided for whom they’ll vote. With 47% undecided, candidates in this race are all capable of growing exponentially with solid paid media and field campaigns.
Tim Wooldridge, a former state legislator and a run-off candidate for Lt. Governor in 2006, starts at a higher level than the unknowns in the race. Cook, Bryles and Causey are the three likeliest candidates to vie for a run-off spot with Wooldridge.
This race will get more interesting closer to election day as we start to see momentum building for contenders, but that momentum needs to commence. Early voting starts in less than a month and Republican Rick Crawford – who is expected to win the GOP nomination – turned in a solid first quarter financial report raising $190,000.
Click here to return to our home page where you can view polling results from CD2 and CD3.
