While many establishment Democrats favor Cedar Rapids City Council member Monica Vernon to take on Representative Rod Blum, the 2014 Democratic nominee Pat Murphy has revealed one reason he is said to be leaning toward running for Congress again. Erin Murphy reported yesterday,
Murphy outpolled Vernon, 43 percent to 34 percent, in a survey of 350 likely Democratic primary voters conducted last week in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District and released Tuesday by Murphy. Gary Kroeger was chosen by 12 percent of respondents.
The poll was conducted by Myers Research, a Washington, D.C.-based polling firm that Murphy also solicited during his 2014 campaign.
I wouldn’t read too much into partial results from an internal poll taken nearly a year before the Democratic primary, but as a general rule, I think competitive primaries help eventual nominees more than they hurt. If Murphy believes he can make a strong case for a second chance against Blum, let the Democratic voters in the first district decide, rather than leaving the choice to elected officials in Iowa or Washington.
Any comments related to the IA-01 race are welcome in this thread.
UPDATE: Added below a Murphy for Iowa press release about this poll. The July 15 statement says Murphy will “make a final decision about a 2016 campaign next week.” The attached polling memo says Murphy’s advantage over Vernon grows to 51 percent to 40 percent in a two-candidate race, and that Murphy leads among women as well as men in the sample.
Murphy Leads in First District Poll
Murphy has significant lead in 3-way & 2-way raceDUBUQUE – Democrat Pat Murphy released a poll today showing he has a clear lead in a three-way primary in Iowa’s First Congressional District. While Murphy and second place finisher Monica Vernon are already similarly well known to the district, Murphy leads 43% to Vernon’s 34%, with 12% preferring Gary Kroeger.
“I’ve had very encouraging conversations with Democrats in the First District,” said Pat Murphy. “And the poll confirms a lot of what I’m hearing from people who live in the district.”
The poll, conducted by Myers Research, showed Murphy taking a double digit lead in a two-way race with Vernon (51% to 40%), and expanding that lead further after voters heard balanced negatives about both candidates (57% – 35%).
“Like a lot of Democrats, I’ve seen Pat Murphy’s commitment to Democratic values first hand,” said former Cedar Rapids Mayor Kay Halloran who served with Murphy in the state legislature. “We know we can count on Pat, and that’s why Pat can count on a whole lot of support if he gets in this race.”
Murphy plans to make a final decision about a 2016 campaign next week.
The memo with additional poll results is below.
