Republican Tim Burns leads progressive liberal Mark Critz 44%-41% to fill troop hater John Murtha’s seat

Left wing biased PPP (Public Policy Polling) latest polling results for the May 18th special election to fill the House seat of now dead troop hater John Murtha. The poll finds Republican Tim Burns leading liberal Democrat Mark Critz by 3 points at 44% to 41%. Being that this is PPP, Burns may actually have a lead of a few more points than what PPP indicates.

It’s a rare election these days where both candidates are viewed pretty favorably in the district. 45% of voters have a favorable opinion of Burns to 26% who view him unfavorably and Critz is in positive territory as well with 41% of voters saying they like him to 34% who do not.

Tipping the balance in a race where each candidate is pretty well liked may be the way voters in the district feel about a number of key Democrats- Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Arlen Specter, and Ed Rendell are all exceptionally unpopular. Obama’s approval rating is just 33% to 57% disapproving, only 24% have a favorable opinion of Pelosi to 64% with an unfavorable one, 28% of voters approve of Specter to 60% who don’t, and 24% give Rendell good marks to 63% unhappy with him. Those aren’t the sorts of reviews that bode well for the district electing another Democratic politician.

Although the district is exceptionally Democratic- 55% in this sample- these are not what you would think of as mainstream national Democratic voters. Only 50% of the party’s voters in the district approve of Obama’s job performance and just 43% support the health care bill passed last month. There are more Democrats in the district who have an unfavorable opinion of Nancy Pelosi than a positive one.

Because of that it’s not surprising that Burns is winning over 22% of the Democratic vote compared to Critz’s 10% of the Republican vote. Burns also has a 51-31 lead with independents, although there are fewer of them in this district than most.

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April 20, 2010 · Filed Under 2010 Elections


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