Asa Hutchinson In Driver’s Seat For GOP Nomination

Republican Asa Hutchinson is the firm front-runner for the GOP nomination for Governor, according to a new Talk Business-Hendrix College Poll.

The statewide survey of 1,516 likely Republican primary voters shows Hutchinson with a 70% to 20% lead over his primary challenger Curtis Coleman.

Q. The two Republican candidates for Governor are Curtis Coleman and Asa Hutchinson. If the election were today, for whom would you vote?

20% Curtis Coleman
70% Asa Hutchinson
10% Don’t Know

“Unlike the Attorney General’s race, Republican primary voters seem very decided on their choices in the Governor’s race,” said Talk Business & Politics editor-in-chief Roby Brock. “Barring a major slip-up, Asa Hutchinson looks like he will win emphatically in the May 20 primary and be his party’s nominee for Governor.”

The winner of the Republican primary faces the winner of the Democratic gubernatorial primary between Mike Ross and Lynette Bryant. Also, Libertarian Frank Gilbert and Green Party nominee Joshua Drake have qualified for the ballot in November.

The poll, which was conducted Tuesday, April 29, 2014, has a margin of error of +/- 2.5%. It is part of a comprehensive survey of likely GOP voters in the May 20th primary.

“As we’ve outlined previously, our sample includes voters who have voted in Republican primaries in recent cycles and they had to indicate they would be voting in this year’s GOP primary to complete the survey,” said Brock.

Dr. Jay Barth, professor of political science at Hendrix College, helped craft and analyze the latest poll.

“In his fourth statewide race, former Congressman Asa Hutchinson appears on his way to his second GOP gubernatorial nomination in his contest with Curtis Coleman,” Barth said.

“His lead is consistent across all demographic groups in the GOP electorate. He runs similarly with both supporters and opponents of the private option Medicaid expansion that has become a source of some factionalism within the party,” Barth added.

METHODOLOGY
This survey was conducted by Talk Business Research and Hendrix College on Tuesday, April 29, 2014. The poll, which has a margin of error of +/-2.5%, was completed using IVR survey technology among 1,516 Arkansas voters in all four Congressional Districts.

Voters had to have a history of voting in Republican primaries and they had to indicate their preference to vote in this year’s GOP primary to participate in the poll.

There were no cell phones used in this survey as it was not determined to largely impact the results collected from the initial IVR sample. The survey is weighted for gender and Congressional District based on an average of 2010 and 2012 voter turnout patterns.

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, contact Talk Business & Politics Editor-in-chief Roby Brock by email at [email protected] or Dr. Jay Barth by email at [email protected].