New poll: Braun holds sizable lead in GOP gubernatorial race
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A political poll released Thursday finds U.S. Sen. Mike Braun with a huge lead in the crowded 2024 Republican primary race for Indiana governor—and an even larger number of registered voters who are still undecided.
The Fox59/CBS4/Emerson College/The Hill poll found Braun leads fellow GOP gubernatorial candidates with 34% support, followed by Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch (7%), Fort Wayne businessman Eric Doden (7%) and former Indiana Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers (5%).
But the poll also found that 43% of those surveyed were still undecided about the GOP primary race.
The survey was conducted by Emerson College Polling and sponsored by Nexstar Media, which owns WXIN-TV Channel 59 and WTTV-TV Channel 4. Fox59 and CBS4 are IBJ media partners.
“Republican primary voters who find immigration to be the top issue facing the state break for Braun at 48% and the economy at 40%,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in written remarks. “Braun’s support in the Republican primary is about 10 points higher among men than women, 38% to 28%, as 51% of women are undecided ahead of the May election.”
Fox59 and CBS4 will broadcast a live one-hour debate between Republican candidates for governor at 7 p.m. on March 26. Candidates who received at least 5% support in the poll are allowed to participate, meaning Braun, Crouch, Doden and Chambers are in. Former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill (2.4%) and Jamie Reitenour (1.6%) did not make the cut, Fox59 and CBS4 reported on Thursday morning.
The winner of the May 7 GOP primary will take on presumptive Democratic winner Jennifer McCormick in the Nov. 5 election. McCormick, the former Indiana superintendent of public instruction, has no competition in the primary.
The poll was collected March 2-5. The overall poll consisted of 1,000 registered voters, with a credibility interval (similar to a margin of error) of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The Republican primary poll consisted of 526 likely Republican primary voters, with a credibility interval of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.
In the Republican primary for president, the poll found 78% support for former President Donald Trump and 14% support for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who dropped out of the race on Wednesday.
The poll found 36% job approval for outgoing Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, with 44% approval among Republicans and 24% among Democrats.
President Joe Biden has 30% job approval among Indiana voters, while 59% disapprove of the job he is doing, according to the poll.
In a potential 2024 general presidential election, 55% of those polled support Donald Trump, with 34% supporting Joe Biden.
The most important issue for those polled was the economy (34%), followed by crime (12%), threats to democracy (12%), immigration (11%), education (8%), abortion access (8%) and housing affordability (6%).