A new public opinion poll of Montanans shows Republican Greg Gianforte with a 12% advantage over Democrat Rob Quist in the race to replace Ryan Zinke for Montana’s lone Congressional seat.
According to the survey, Gianforte leads the pack with 50% of respondents saying they intended to vote for him. Democrat Rob Quist was in second place with 38%. Libertarian and Green party candidates both received low single digits and 7% are still undecided.
Quist, the banjo player turned politician, has been hounded in recent weeks as media reports have revealed his decades long financial problems including tax liens, defaulted loans and collection actions taken against him.
Gianforte, who lost a narrow election to Governor Steve Bullock in November, has been off to a strong start since winning the Republican nomination. Gianforte announced last week that his campaign has already raised more than $1.5 million.
The poll was conducted by Gravis Marketing, a non-partisan research firm based in Florida. The poll surveyed 1,222 Montanans and has margin of error of +/- 2.9%.
The special election will be May 25th.
Read the full poll at: http://gravismarketing.com/polling-and-market-research/current-montana-polling-3/