From diligent Inquirer reporter Joseph A. Gambardello:
John Dougherty’s campaign has released polling data showing the labor union honcho leading his two opponents in the Democratic primary race for the state Senate seat Vince Fumo will vacate later this year.
But it also shows that even more voters are undecided — 37 percent — than support Dougherty with the primary just three weeks away.
Dougherty, in an email today to supporters, says the survey conducted March 25-26 shows him leading with 31 percent to a "healthy" 18 percent for grassroots activist Anne Dicker and 14 percent for Center City lawyer Larry Farnese, whose campaign has attracted the support of Fumo’s allies since the senator decided not to seek re-election.
A footnote to the survey points out that a poll in February showed Fumo leading the race with 28 percent. The research firm Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates says the latest results indicate that Johnny Doc has "clearly gained" more of Fumo’s supporters than the other two candidates in the race.
"… these results suggest that the primary is now Dougherty’s to lose," the candidate’s email quotes the research firm as reporting.
All this polling seems to have given a real confidence boost to Dougherty - so much so that the email emphasizes Doc's political strengths, but implies that he held this office before. He hasn't, and neither have his opponents.
Says the email: "We have got to get this violence situation under control, and as such we cannot afford to send a freshman Senator to Harrisburg."
Hmm. But with Fumo's retirement, that's the only option voters have.
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