Martinez widens lead over King in governor race

From the Albuquerque Journal - Copyright 2014 - By James Monteleone / Journal Staff Writer - Republican Gov. Susana Martinez has doubled her lead over Democratic challenger Gary King since mid-August, in part by picking up support from Democrats, Hispanics and independents who previously backed King, a new Journal Poll shows.
      The September poll, conducted Tuesday through Thursday last week, found that Martinez had increased her advantage to 54 percent of likely New Mexico voters. King’s support slid to 36 percent, widening Martinez’s lead to 18 percentage points. The number of undecided voters stayed about the same: 10 percent in the latest poll, compared with 9 percent in the earlier one.
      Martinez’s gains follow a month long barrage of Martinez television ads, several of them criticizing King for votes he cast more than 25 years ago when he was a member of the state House of Representatives.The Aug. 12-14 Journal Poll showed Martinez leading King, currently the state’s attorney general, 50 percent to 41 percent.
      “Simple math tells you that the governor is picking up some of Gary King’s support from the prior poll in the past month, actually cutting into King’s base,” said Journal pollster Brian Sanderoff, president of Research & Polling Inc.
      “Gary King has been sliding,” Sanderoff said. Read full story

Martinez widens lead over King in governor race