Posted on 08/09/2010 12:30:51 PM PDT by iowamark
Republican Terry Branstad continues to hold a double-digit lead over Democratic incumbent Chet Culver in Iowa’s gubernatorial race.
The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Branstad picking up 52% support, while Culver gets 36% of the vote. Eight percent (8%) prefer another candidate, and four percent (4%) are undecided.
Most voters in the state view Branstad as a conservative and Culver as a liberal. Troubling for the incumbent is that nearly half (47%) of Iowa voters think his political views are extreme, compared to 39% who put them in the mainstream. Branstad's views, by contrast, are regarded as mainstream by 57% and extreme by just 31%
Just after he won a three-way GOP Primary contest in June, Branstad, who previously served as governor from 1983 to 1999, jumped out to a 57% to 31% lead. But with the exception of that post-primary bounce, the Republican has earned 52% or 53% of the vote in surveys since February. Culver has earned 36% to 38% support in that same period.
Culver was first elected governor in 2006 with 54% of the vote.
(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.
The survey of 500 Likely Voters in Iowa was conducted on August 5, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Thirty-seven percent (37%) now approve of the job Culver is doing as governor, down four points from June, but 61% disapprove.
Branstad is backed by 87% of Republicans, while Culver is supported by 78% of Democrats. The Republican leads by more than two-to-one among voters not affiliated with either major political party.
Seventy-two percent (72%) of Iowa voters view Branstad as politically conservative, while Culver is seen as politically liberal by 57%. Twenty-six percent (26%) rate the governor as a moderate.
Branstad is viewed Very Favorably by 28% of Iowa voters and Very Unfavorably by 20%.
Thirteen percent (13%) have a Very Favorable opinion of Culver, while 40% view him Very Unfavorably, up nine points from June.
Both candidates are well-known in the state, but at this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with a strong opinion more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers.
Just over half of Iowa voters (51%) give their personal finances good or excellent marks, which is higher than results found nationally. Only 11% rate their finances as poor. But just 27% in Iowa say their finances are getting better these days, compared to 40% who say their finances are getting worse.
In 2008, Rasmussen Reports projected nationally that Barack Obama would defeat John McCain by a 52% to 46% margin. Obama won 53% to 46%. Four years earlier, Rasmussen Reports projected the national vote totals for both George W. Bush and John Kerry within half-a-percentage-point.
In Iowa during the 2008 campaign, Rasmussen Reports polling showed Obama leading McCain by eight, 52% to 44%. Obama won by nine, 54% to 45%. Other Iowa polling that year showed Senator Tom Harkin defeating Christopher Reed 57% to 41%. Harkin won 63% to 37%.
In the 2006 race for governor of Iowa, Rasmussen polling showed Culver leading Jim Nussle 49% to 45%. Culver won 54% to 44%. In 2004, the final Rasmussen Reports poll in Iowa showed Bush and Kerry tied at 48%. The final numbers were Bush 50%, Kerry 49%.
Quick! Get a third-party candidate in the race to dilute the GOP vote. Make a point!
They want him a lot more than Culver.
I was asking if Branstad is a real conservative.
He’s not a hard core conservative. I would rather he wasn’t our choice, but he is a hell of a lot better than Culver.
There was a bit of a feud during the primaries, with Branstad and his opponent, Bob VanderPlaats. Brandstad won rather handily, but there is some infighting between BVP and Brandstad supporters.
that said, by and large, the BVP supporters will turn out for Brandstad in November. While not ideal for conservatives, he is a far sight better than the commie culver. I think Chet is gonna be unemployed after November 2
Who? Some Liberaltarian?
Why vote libertarian when all you will get is a gun supporting liberal?
Libertarians are pro abortion, pro gay marriage, pro open borders, pro drug legalization. They are only conservative on the gun issue. The rest of their platform is the same as Democrats.
Not really. He always campaigned as a prolife conservative, but was more of a mushy moderate in practice.
NO Terry B. is NOT a conservative, HOWEVER then DEMs and Chester C. have been SO bad that ANYONE will be better than them. I was a BVP guy but NOW I am a Branstad GUY 110%!
Thank you US Navy Vet! I’ve heard BVP is going to use his resources to get some of these judges ousted..I think that is a great idea! Maybe we can get this state back to a semblance of sanity...
Another indication of Palin Power!
Will Branstad push for a marriage amendment in Iowa? The last/current governor broke his promise.
I’m a native Iowan, and I can’t WAIT till that arrogant, smug Culver gets his backside handed to him.
Branstad isn’t a Conservative, but he’s proven himself to be a much more capable and common sense Governor than Culver has.
Culver is about as good a Governor as Obama is a President.
Meant to include a /sarc tag.
an
We are going to be so screwed next year.....We are getting all these folks with R after their name who are going to win which is great. After winning, they are going to join a gang of 14 type nonsense and we will repeat all over again. The senate especially will have about 10 RINOS!!!!! Why are conservatives not concerned about this???????? Democrats are finding out the hard way about winning at all cost. Why should we go through the same thing??????
You sound like someone who bet on the bay horse to win, and now that he is three furlongs out in front, you think you should have bet on one that didn’t have a chance to win.
I sound like a guy who lived through the early 2000’s when the Republicans did everything they could to assist the Democrats. RINOs are the death of America almost as much as the Democrats. The majority on here see it. Obviously we can’t do anything about it now with this race. We are stuck with who we have and of course vote Republican, but just don’t think that we are going to have some magical time with the majority that we end up with.
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