Republican Leads In Race For Ferguson Seat

New Jersey State Sen. Leonard Lance’s campaign has released an internal poll showing the Republican legislator leading Democratic state Sen. Linda Stender in his bid to succeed retiring Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.).

The poll shows Lance leading Stender, by seven points, 42 to 35 percent. The campaign has also highlighted the fact that Stender holds higher unfavorables (29 percent) than favorable (20 percent) at this early stage of the campaign.

Lance held a 20 percent favorable and 11 percent unfavorable rating, according to the poll.

“It may be the first time we've ever conducted a poll in a targeted district in June and found one of the candidates beginning the campaign with an upside down image,” Lance’s pollster Adam Geller wrote in the polling memo.

The poll, conducted by the GOP firm National Research Inc. between June 24-25, surveyed 300 likely registered district-wide voters, and has a 5.6 percent margin of error.

The poll suggested that Stender’s negative ratings are largely a result of her 2006 campaign against Ferguson, where he attacked her as a “big spender” in a memorable television advertisement. In a word-association question asked by the pollster, 15 percent of voters offered “big spender” as their first association with Stender’s name – more than any other answer.

But Stender will have plenty of time and money to define herself in a more positive light.  In contrast to her first Congressional campaign against Ferguson, Stender holds a significant financial advantage over Lance.
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