What a difference a month makes. Republican Bob Turner has a six-point lead in the latest Siena poll over Democrat David Weprin in the New York Ninth Congressional District special election. Fifty percent of the likely voters polled said they would vote for Turner in next Tuesday’s election, which is being held to replace the scandal-ridden former Democratic congressman Anthony Weiner. That’s an eight-point jump for Turner, who in the August 10 Siena survey was polling at 42 percent behind Weprin at 48 percent.
The Siena poll follows on a Magellan poll released this Tuesday, which found Turner had a four-point lead.
According to Siena, now a full 90 percent of Republicans are supporting Turner, up from 80 percent in August. Turner’s biggest swing of support, though, has been from independents, who in last month’s Siena poll had favored him 46 percent to 42 percent. In today’s poll, a full 65 percent of independents support Turner, with only 27 percent favoring Weprin. Turner has gotten a significant boost from voters under 55, according to Siena, who now favor him by 11 points after having favored Weprin by 15 points in August.
Turner’s campaign has earned endorsements from several influential Democrats, including former New York City mayor Ed Koch and state assemblyman Dov Hikind. Both have criticized President Obama for his stances on Israel, and Hikind, an Orthodox Jew, had long refused to endorse Weprin, also an Orthodox Jew, for the latter’s support for the gay marriage law. The Ninth District has a large Orthodox Jewish population, and the Catholic Turner appears to be gaining their support for his stance against gay marriage, his staunch support for Israel, and his opposition to Obama, who is unpopular in the Ninth.
The special election will be held next Tuesday, September 13.
