A new poll conducted by SurveyUSA for KOB-TV found that incumbent Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has a double-digit lead over her Republican opponent, Mark Ronchetti in her reelection campaign.
The poll of likely voters found that Lujan Grisham has the support of 48 percent of likely voters, with 36 percent saying they would vote for Ronchetti and 5 percent for Libertarian Karen Bedonie. Another 11 percent would not say or are undecided.
The poll found Lujan Grisham had a lead of 59 percent to 26 percent among Hispanic voters, while leading by 18 percentage points among women and 6 percent among men. Men are traditionally more conservative voters.
The poll also found that 53 percent of likely voters approve of Lujan Grisham’s job performance so far, while 42 percent disapprove. Of those, 26 percent strongly approve and 27 percent strongly disapprove.
This is the first SurveyUSA poll conducted in New Mexico since the primary. The previous poll was conducted in May and showed Lujan Grisham with a 4 percentage point lead over Ronchetti. Ronchetti went on to easily win the Republican primary in June, while Lujan Grisham had no opponent in the primary.
A Research & Polling, Inc. poll conducted for the Albuquerque Journal in August found a 7 point lead for Lujan Grisham over Ronchetti.
Other races
The SurveyUSA poll also showed wide leads for Democrats in other key statewide races.
In the open Attorney General’s race, the poll found Democrat Raúl Torrez leads Republican Jeremy Gay 49 percent to 34 percent, with 18 percent undecided. This race features no incumbent, as Democrat Hector Balderas is term-limited and cannot run for a third consecutive term.
In the race for Secretary of State, Democratic incumbent Maggie Toulouse Oliver garnered the support of 46 percent of likely voters, compared to 35 percent for Republican Audrey Trujillo and 3 percent for Libertarian Mayna Myers. Another 16 percent were undecided. This is Toulouse Oliver’s second full term.
The most recent SurveyUSA poll of 558 likely New Mexico voters took place between Sept. 8 and 12. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 5.7 percentage points, which means any one result can be that much higher or lower. Questions with smaller subgroups have larger margins of error.
