Braun, Republican ticket hold hefty lead in Indiana in new poll

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Gubernatorial candidate Sen. Mike Braun and the Indiana Republican ticket have a strong lead ahead of Democrats just three weeks before early voting begins, according to a new Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey released Tuesday.

The poll—commissioned by Indianapolis Fox affiliate WXIN-TV Channel 59 and CBS affiliate WTTV-TV Channel 4—also shows former President Donald Trump with a major lead over Vice President Kamala Harris in Indiana.

Braun leads Democratic challenger Jennifer McCormick by 11 points, 45% to 34%, according to the poll. Libertarian Donald Rainwater, who received 11% of the vote in the last gubernatorial election, was at 6% in the poll. The poll found 13% of voters were undecided.

The three candidates are running to replace Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, who is term-limited. The poll found the governor has a 35% approval rating, with 31% disapproving and another third neutral or with no opinion.

The poll shows incumbent Republican Todd Rokita leading the race for Indiana attorney general, 49% to 35%, over Democrat Destiny Wells with 16% undecided, conflicting with a poll released by Wells showing a margin of less than 5%.

Republican Rep. Jim Banks also leads over Democrat Valerie McCray 47% to 33% in the U.S. Senate race. Libertarian Andrew Horning gathered 5%.

Trump held a 17-point lead over Harris, 57% to 40%, with only about 2% undecided. Harris’ percentage is just sightly below President Joe Biden’s 41% vote in Indiana in 2020.

The top issue for Indiana voters is the economy, according to 44% of those polled. Other issues of concern include education at 9% as well as housing affordability, abortion access and threats to democracy, each with 8%.

The poll queried 1,000 likely voters on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 12-13. More than 75% of those polled identified as Republicans; nearly 85% are white; and the age range was more or less equal across six decades.

The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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9 thoughts on “Braun, Republican ticket hold hefty lead in Indiana in new poll

  1. Could be that the cornerstone, or one of them, of his campaign is more school choice for lower-income and moderate income parents for their children. Remember, the rich ALWAYS have school choice. The argument is how best to get poorer, mostly minority kids into better schools….and its universal school choice.

    1. They’ve had it for a decade. If you live in IPS and want to go to Ben Davis, or live in Perry Township and want to go to Center Grove, you already can.

      I don’t see Braun saying he will cover the transportation costs which are what end up being the deal breaker for many…. likely because that would cost money.

    2. School choice only works for places where there is a choice. That means any choice program excludes most rural districts and just continues to siphon money from those schools.

  2. Only in Indiana where a felon, rapist and adulterer and a man whose company has filed bankruptcy 6 times could win the presidential election. I am sure we will be the first state he wins. So predictable.

    1. In the primaries, most polls overstated Trumps margin by about 10%.

      There is a possibility that FOX News, OAN, and Newsmax really have convinced 57% of Hoosiers of the lies about Dem’s are really true, but that seems a stretch, even for Indiana.

  3. If 75% of those polled identified as Rs, the numbers suggest that *many* Rs are disenchanted with the R ticket and are going to vote D. This speaks to the poor quality of the R candidates this election.

    1. With 19% of this poll going to Independents and Libertarians, Braun only having an 11% lead doesn’t sound that “hefty” to me. Could be a shocker in the making.

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