New Poll Shows Turner With Lead In Ninth District

With only a week to go until the special election in the Ninth Distirct, a new poll is indicating a four-point lead for Republican candidate Bob Turner.

If accurate, the poll’s results indicate a seismic shift in the mentality of much of the Ninth District electorate, where Democrats outnumber Republicans more than three-to-one.

The poll was conducted by Magellan Strategies, a right-leaning research firm, on Sept. 1. Turner campaign spokesman Bill O’Reilly said the campaign did not commission the poll.

 According to the company, more than 2,000 voters in the Ninth District were called and asked their thoughts on President Barack Obama, and who they felt they would likely vote for in the coming special election.

Turner received just over a 44 percent share of those polled, with most saying they would definitely vote for him.

Weprin received a 40 percent share, with 28 percent saying they definitely planned to vote for him, while 12 percent said they were relatively sure.

Third party candidate Chris Hoeppner scored just over three percent of the vote, while the undecideds came in at just over 11 percent.

The only issue-based question on the poll had to do with the location of the proposed Islamic Center and Mosque near Ground Zero, and the poll found respondents hugely in favor of preventing the center from obtaining any taxpayer funds.

A Sierra poll conducted last month gave Democrat David Weprin a six-point lead in the district, though Turner polled more favorably among Democrats than Weprin did among Republicans.