A poll conducted last week for KOB-TV found incumbent Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham with a large lead over Republican nominee Mark Ronchetti.

The poll conducted by SurveyUSA for the Albuquerque-based TV station found that 53 percent of likely voters supported Lujan Grisham, compared to 37 percent for Ronchetti and 3 percent for Libertarian nominee Karen Bedonie. Another 7 percent said they were undecided.

This is the largest lead shown of any publicly released poll in the governor’s race so far. A poll conducted for NM Political Report at the tail end of the same week found Lujan Grisham led Ronchetti by 8 percentage points.

The KOB poll also found large leads for Democrats in the races for Attorney General and Secretary of State.

Democrat Raul Torrez led 50 percent to 33 percent over Republican Jeremy Gay in the open race. Incumbent Hector Balderas, a Democrat, is term-limited and cannot run for a third consecutive term.

In the Secretary of State’s race, the poll found incumbent Democrat Maggie Toulouse Oliver leading Republican nominee Audrey Trujillo 47 percent to 32 percent, with 3 percent supporting Libertarian Mayna Myers.

The poll also examined the public’s thoughts on abortion, with 15 percent saying abortion would be a determining factor and 36 percent saying it would be a major factor on their vote for governor.

Democrats, who are generally more supportive of abortion rights, were more likely than Republicans to place a large importance on abortion this fall.

The poll also found that 47 percent of voters approved of the job President Joe Biden is doing, either strongly or somewhat approving, while 49 percent either strongly or somewhat disapproved.

The poll found that Lujan Grisham had a 51 percent approval rating, compared to 42 percent who disapproved. 

The poll of 662 likely voters was conducted by SurveyUSA between Oct.1 and 7 and has a margin of error of +/- 5.8 percentage points.