First District Democrats Far From Decided On Nominee, Crawford

In less than a month, First District Democrats will have voted for a Congressional nominee to challenge incumbent Republican Cong. Rick Crawford.

Who it will be is a total mystery.

In the latest Talk Business-Hendrix College Poll, conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday April 24-25, 2012, 497 likely Democratic primary voters in Arkansas’ First Congressional District offered their opinions on party candidates and Crawford.

Q: There are 3 Democratic candidates for the First District Congressional seat: Scott Ellington, Clark Hall, and Gary Latanich.  If the election were today, for whom would you vote?

15% – Scott Ellington
10% – Clark Hall
3.5% – Gary Latanich
71.5% – Don’t know

“With no dominant candidate in the field — by that, I mean a well-known district-wide candidate — this race is extremely wide-open,” said Talk Business executive editor Roby Brock. “Unlike the Republicans in the Fourth, there is no previous Congressional candidate and no big money being spent to move voters at this time. Therefore, you have a huge voting bloc that won’t make a final decision until much closer to Election Day.”

First District Democrats were also asked about the job performance of current Cong. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro. Much like Democratic Cong. Mike Ross’ numbers with GOP voters in the Fourth, Crawford is not overwhelmingly disapproved.

Q: Do you approve or disapprove of the job current Cong. Rick Crawford is doing?

26% – Approve
28% – Disapprove
46% – Don’t know

“In previous polling among general election voters, we have seen Crawford with a high number of voters who don’t know much about his job performance,” Brock said. “This appears largely unchanged among Democratic voters. A well-funded general election opponent could still negatively define Crawford with such a large undecided bloc, or if he’s not defined, he may muddle through with split support among Democrats.”

Talk Business asked additional questions among Democratic primary voters, including their support for the Buffett Rule, which we will release later today. Voters were also asked about Pres. Obama, the West Memphis 3, and voters’ personal political leanings. Additional results will be released Friday, Sunday and Monday.

POLL METHODOLOGY
The poll was conducted by Talk Business Research and Hendrix College on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 24-25, 2012. The poll, which has a margin of error of +/-4.4%, was completed using IVR survey technology among 497 likely Democratic voters in Arkansas’ First Congressional District.

Participants were selected from a database of district voters who have voted in some or all of the last 5 Democratic primary elections and who affirmatively answered a question that they intended to vote in the Democratic primary on May 22, 2012.

All media outlets are welcome to reprint, reproduce, or rebroadcast information from this poll with proper attribution to Talk Business and Hendrix College.

For interviews, Brock can be reached by email at [email protected]. Barth can be contacted at [email protected].