Cicilline Leads Doherty in Third Poll Since Primary

A third poll since the primary shows Congressman David Cicillne with a comfortable lead over conservative newcomer Brendan Doherty, this one was commissioned by the Cicilline campaign and shows him enjoying a 51 to 41 edge over right wing Republican.

“Democrat David Cicilline has secured majority support over Republican challenger Brendan Doherty in the race for Rhode Island’s First Congressional seat,” said a memo from pollster Diane Feldman, of the Feldman Group, to the Cicilline campaign. “With only 8 percent undecided, the contest is not very mobile and Cicilline is the likely winner of it.”

Accounting for three-way race, “Cicilline leads Doherty 46 percent to 36 percent, with independent candidate David Vogel receiving 7 percent and 11 percent of voters undecided,” according to her memo.

The results closely mimic a recent poll conducted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which showed Cicilline with an 11-point lead over Doherty.

Feldman’s memo says, “Voters favor Democratic positions on many key issues facing the country, including health care reform. Seventy-two (72) percent of voters in the First Congressional District support the Democratic position favoring the Affordable Care Act, while 22 percent of voters favor the Republican position of repealing the Affordable Care Act completely, and starting the process of health care reform all over again.”

Doherty has said he is opposed to Obama’s landmark healthcare reform bill.

“The First Congressional District remains heavily Democratic,” Feldman wrote in her memo. “President Barack Obama dominates Republican challenger Mitt Romney and fully 50 percent of voters believe their families are better off if Democrats have a majority in the United States Congress, while only 16 percent of voters feel their families are be better off if Republicans have a majority.”