Poll: Malloy, Foley still tied; budget policy hurts Malloy

HARTFORD, Conn. –According to the latest Quinnipiac University poll, Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and challenger Tom Foley, his 2010 gubernatorial opponent, are still deadlocked at 43-43 percent.

But voters were split on two key questions. Malloy’s job approval rating remains favorable at 48-46 percent, while 4 percent more voters (48-44 percent) thought he didn’t deserve to be re-elected. Meanwhile, Foley leads five other Republican candidates going into next week’s conventions.

The poll released Friday found that in hypothetical match-ups against the other Republicans, Malloy edges out Senate Minority Leader John McKinney and Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton with 44 percent of the vote. In that hypothetical match-up, McKinney receives 40 and Boughton receives 39 percent of the vote. Malloy beats the rest of the lesser known Republican candidates by 8 to 10 percentage points.

Like previous polls, 60 percent of voters believe the $55 tax refund Malloy had planned to give back to taxpayers, and then cancelled when revenues dropped off, was a “campaign gimmick.” At the same time, about 67 percent said it is “fair to return some share of state revenue to taxpayers” when the state has its fiscal house in order.

“The good news for Gov. Malloy is that the negative headlines about his cancellation of the $55 per person tax refund does not seem to affect his overall approval rating or his standing in the governor’s race,” Quinnipiac University Poll Director Doug Schwartz said. “The bad news is that almost all the Republicans are within single digits of Malloy, with Foley tied and Boughton and McKinney on his heels.”

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