Poll Shows Fitzgerald Ahead In County Executive Race
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The first independent poll is now out in the race for Allegheny County Executive this November.
While Democrats hold a big registration advantage in the county, it does not always mean their candidates win.
If the Allegheny County executive race were held today, Democrat Rich Fitzgerald would defeat Republican D. Raja, according to an independent poll conducted by Civic Science.
With five weeks to go, Fitzgerald has 41 -31 percent lead over Raja with a large 28 percent of the electorate undecided.
So is the race up for grabs?
"Given a seemingly large number of undecided voters, yes, and I think with any race like this in an off-year election, a lot of this really depends on who is going to show up to vote," John Dick from Civic Science said.
Dick said his online social media methodology tries to narrow the polling to only those who will vote on Nov. 8.
The poll revealed other interesting information.
Men split evenly between the two, 39 to 39, but Fitzgerald has a 15-point advantage with women, 42 to 27 percent.
Fitzgerald and Raja nearly tie among those under the age of 55, while Fitzgerald is winning big, 42 to 28 percent, among those over 55.
Republican Raja said he's not surprised by the poll numbers.
"I've gone to all the 130 municipalities and I'm telling you, what I'm hearing across the board is that everyone is ready for a change. So, no, those numbers don't surprise us. In fact, like I said, I'm surprised the polls aren't showing us 10 points ahead," Raja said.
According to the poll, the most undecided voters are females between the ages of 55 and 64, and registered Democrats.
Democrat Fitzgerald said he likes the momentum going his way.
"Our message of government reform, holding the line on taxes, and moving this economy, it's about jobs, jobs, jobs. That's what I am focused on, it's what I've been focused on, and I think people respond to that," Fitzgerald said.
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