For Immediate Release
Friday, June 4, 2010

RESEARCH 2000 POLL: HALTER 49%-LINCOLN 45%

Halter winning majority of Morrison voters by 10 points

North Little Rock – In another show of momentum heading into the last weekend of the campaign, Lt. Gov. Bill Halter expanded his lead over Sen. Blanche Lincoln in a new Research 2000 Arkansas poll out today that shows Lt. Gov. Halter with a 49%-45% lead. The previous Research 2000 poll released last week showed Lt. Gov. Halter with a 47%-44% lead.

“This poll shows that Arkansans want change,” said campaign manager Carol Butler. “Today, Monday and Tuesday they have a chance to vote for change. This race is very close, and I urge all of our supporters to take their friends and family to go vote. They have three days left to vote, two candidates but only one choice for change.”

This poll, sponsored by Daily Kos, is the third-straight public poll showing Lt. Gov. Halter ahead in the runoff but is the first to ask where D.C. Morrison’s voters will go:

* D.C. Morrison supporters who are planning to vote in the runoff are backing Lt. Gov. Halter by 10 points.

* Voters who skipped the Democratic Primary who are planning to vote in the runoff are also backing Lt. Gov. Halter, 41%-23%.

* Lt. Gov. Halter has a +37 favorable/unfavorable rating in the Democratic Party Runoff, with 61% of runoff voters holding a favorable view of him, and only 24% holding an unfavorable view.

* By comparison, those same Democratic Party Primary voters give Sen. Lincoln only a +19% rating, getting a favorable rating from 56% and a negative rating from 37%.

Unlike the previous Research 2000 poll, potential General Election matchups were not tested. The previous poll showed that Sen. Lincoln would almost certainly lose to Rep. Boozman, as 58% of the state’s voters viewed her unfavorably, and Rep. Boozman enjoyed a 58%-38% lead over her. A quarter of Democratic voters said they would support Rep. Boozman in a general election.

Lt. Gov. Halter performed better against Republican nominee Rep. John Boozman, leading among women and in the Little Rock region as well as in Southern Arkansas. Lt. Gov. Halter was behind in a head-to-head matchup against Rep. Boozman, 53%-42%.

The Research 2000 Arkansas Run-Off Poll was conducted from June 2 through June 4, 2010. A total of 600 Democratic Primary voters who are likely to vote in next Tuesday’s Run-Off election were interviewed statewide by telephone. The margin of error is 4%.

The full poll is available here.