Poll has Republican leading in Weiner district

Published September 6, 2011 4:00am ET



I am deeply skeptical of any poll from the Republican firm Magellan Strategies. With that out there, this one is worth passing along anyway.

Magellan Strategies BR today released the survey results of an automated survey of 2,055 likely voters in New York’s 9th Congressional District. The survey was conducted September 1st, 2011 and has a margin of error of 2.16%.  The survey finds Republican Bob Turner leading Democrat David Weprin by 4 points (Turner 44.6%/Weprin 40.4%/Hoeppner 3.2%/undecided 11.8%).

Everything else in the race to succeed former Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., seems to be going Republicans’ way, so I’d guess this means it’s going to be a squeaker either way.

If Turner does pull it off, I don’t think Republicans should start taking any national lessons from the victory. I know, it goes without saying that they’ll talk about its national significance. They would be wrong, and even more wrong if they actually believe it. The culprit here is the candidiate that Democrats nominated, Dave Weprin.

This district’s likely fate is to be eliminated in redistricting. That doesn’t mean it’s unimportant, though. If Turner wins, it gives the GOP an extra chit in the redistricting process, since the final deal will likely involve each party losing one seat.