Republican Fleming was up six points from the SMOR poll, coming in at 14%. Republican State Treasurer John Kennedy fell all the way to 11%, down from 17% in the SMOR poll.
Republican U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany was tied for the top spot with Democrat Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell at 15%.
Here are the results of the JMC poll. The results of the SMOR poll is in parentheses so you can see the difference.
Charles Boustany (R) – 15% (15.2%),
Foster Campbell (D) – 15% (9.2%).
John Fleming (R) – 14% (8.3%).
Caroline Fayard (D) – 12% (11.4%).
John Kennedy (R) – 11% (16.9%).
Rob Maness (R) – 4% (3.3%).
David Duke (R) – 3% (3.1%).
Undecided – 25% (26%).
Both polls continue to show a large number of voters are still undecided. But what is different in the JMC poll is the six-point drop in Kennedy’s numbers. SMOR pointed out in its poll that Kennedy has not yet begun his television advertising.
The other big changes involve Fleming and Campbell. Fleming gained six points. That could be because he has been on TV with ads in markets around the state.
Campbell has picked up six points as well. That could be because of some major endorsements in New Orleans and the recent endorsement of the Sierra Club, which could account for his bump.
The SMOR poll was conducted September 15-17 and the JMC poll was taken September 22-24.
According to the JMC poll, the allegations made in the book “Murder in the Bayou,” where Boustany is said to have had relations with prostitutes, has not resonated with voters. At least, not yet.
What is derived from both polls is that the Senate race continues to be a five-person race. Republicans Rob Maness and David Duke continue to be mired down in single digits.
Boustany, Fleming, and Kennedy are battling it out to capture the Republican vote, while Campbell and Fayard fight over the Democratic vote.
Can two Republicans wind up in the runoff? Possibly But the GOP candidates are splitting the vote among five candidates while the Democrats are dividing the vote among two candidates. So the conventional wisdom is that it will be a Republican and a Democrat in the runoff.
So we await the next poll, which should give a more accurate picture of where the race stands.
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