Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Hogan has a 5-point lead over Democrat Anthony Brown in a surprisingly close race in Maryland, according to a poll conducted on behalf of the Hogan campaign and obtained by THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
The survey of more than 500 likely Maryland voters finds Hogan with 44 percent support, while Brown, the lieutenant governor, has 39 percent support. Fourteen percent say they remain undecided. That’s a 17-point swing from the campaign’s internal poll in July, when Brown led Hogan by 12 points, 48 percent to 36 percent.
The poll also found Hogan winning self-identified moderate voters by 6 percentage points and independent voters by 27 percentage points. The Republican also has a higher favorability rating (49 percent) than the Democrat (41 percent). View the full poll results here.
National Democrats have begun investing resources in the Maryland race, in which Brown maintains a sizable lead in public polls. In recent weeks both presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have stumped for Brown, and another Democratic heavyweight, Hillary Clinton, will be attending a rally in Maryland today with the lieutenant governor.
Hogan, a businessman, has been emphasizing the increased cost of living in Maryland and declining standard of living under the state’s current two-term Democratic governor, Martin O’Malley. Brown was O’Malley’s running mate and has served under the governor since 2007. One recent Hogan ad featured a lifelong Democratic voter who encouraged others like herself to vote for the Republican. Watch that ad below:
