An independent poll, released today, suggests the Oct. 11 provincial election is Kathy Dunderdale’s to lose.
The NDP, meanwhile, continue to hold a small lead over the Liberals for second place.
The premier and her Progressive Conservative party’s numbers are head and shoulders above the other two parties, amongst decided voters, according to information gathered this past weekend.
The poll conducted by MQO Research between Friday and Sunday asked 413 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who they would vote for if the election was the same day and who they prefer as premier from the current party leaders.
53 per cent of decided voters said they would vote for the Progressive Conservative’s, followed by 29 per cent support for the New Democratics and 18 per cent for the Liberals. However, 20 per cent of people surveyed are still undecided.
Dunderdale is the first choice for premier — 64 per cent of decided respondents — with Lorraine Michael at 22 per cent and new Liberal Leader Kevin Aylward behind at 14 per cent. But almost one-third of people — 30 per cent — have yet to make up their minds.
According to the poll, more than half of the population — 53 per cent —said they were satisfied with the current government and gave Dunderdale’s Tories at seven or higher on a scale of one-to-10.
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians were also asked what the most important issue of the campaign was for them. Healthcare was listed at the most important at 26 per cent, with electric power issues including plans to develop the Muskrat Falls portion of the Lower Churchill project coming in second at 13 per cent. The economy — 12 per cent — came in third with issues such as the fishery, education, employment, and the provincial debt being lower of people’s lists.
The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 per cent, which suggests the Liberals and the NDP may be closer to each other than the numbers suggest.
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MY SENTIMENTS EXACTLY D'ARCY.THE TORY LEAD MIGHT NOT BE AS LARGE EITHER.