None of the three candidates for congress has more than 30 percent of the electorate's vote, according to a new poll.
The poll of 300 likely voters was conducted by McLaughlin & Associates for Conservative party candidate Doug Hoffman.
The poll showed Republican Dede Scozzafava with 30% of the vote, Democrat Bill Owens with 20% and Hoffman with 19%.
Thirty-one per cent of those polled were undecided.
Pollster John McLaughlin said the poll shows that Hoffman "has an excellent chance of winning this election."
"This race is shaping up to be a clear choice among a liberal Republican, a liberal Democrat and a true Conservative," said McLaughlin in a memo to Hoffman.
"With a large percentage of the voters who are undecided, the electorate is looking for a candidate they can support," McLaughlin wrote.
In a follow-up conference call with area media, McLaughlin said that "the 19% for a conservative candidate is a very good result for where we are right now."
"The major candidates are not hitting their mark," McLaughlin said.
The poll question asked "If the 2009 special election for United States Congress were held today, and the candidates were Dede Scozzafava, the Republican Party Candidate, Bill Owens, the Democratic Party Candidate, and Doug Hoffman, the Conservative party candidate for whom would you vote?"
The party registration of those polled was similar to the break down in the North Country as a whole, McLaughlin said, at about 46% Republican and 34% Democrat.
Scozzafava campaign spokesman Matt Burns responded to the poll: Polls come and go; methodologies vary, numbers can be skewed; but you don't need a poll to prove you can't trust Doug Hoffman. His pollster should be asking: Would you support Doug Hoffman if you knew he went back on his word to support the Republican nominee; or if you knew he previously supported a multi-million dollar taxpayer-funded bail-out -- and says he would again; or if you knew just today he gave the media one answer on his position on civil unions -- and sought campaign contributions and an endorsement by giving another; or if you knew he didn't even live in the 23rd Congressional District. Serious questions about Doug Hoffman's credibility remain; that's one thing we know for certain. This pollster also should have asked about Bill Owens wanting to tax health care benefits, and the fact Owens has yet to state whether he'd support robbing seniors to pay for the Obama/Pelosi big government agenda.
