Franklin & Marshall College Poll: Incumbent Chris Carney leads challenger Chris Hackett by 14 points

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FRANKLIN AND MARSHALL COLLEGE POLL Lancaster, PA

For immediate release Thursday, 10/09/08

Please find attached and below the results of the October 2008 Franklin and Marshall College Poll of registered 10th congressional district voters produced at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. Complete results can be found in the attachment or at http://politics.fandm.edu/.

Key Findings:

1) Democratic incumbent Chris Carney leads his Republican challenger Chris Hackett by 14 points (39% to 25%) among registered voters in the district, while 36% are undecided.

2) The economy (35%) is cited as the most important issue in the vote choice for the US House race, and is followed closely by government/politicians (18%).

3) Carney leads among those who cite the economy as the most important issue in their vote choice, (49% to 20%).

4) Carney leads among males (34% to 30%), among females, (43% to 20%), among Catholics, (50% to 16%), and among union households (53% to 17%). Hackett has the edge among Protestants voters (33% to 29%), and fundamentalist Christians, (34% to 24%).

5) Hackett’s support among registered Republicans is weak at the moment with only 43% planning to vote for him.

6) John McCain leads Barack Obama in the district, (46% to 39%), with 12% undecided.

7) Obama holds a sizeable lead among women (47% to 39%), younger residents, (46% to 35%), and Catholics, (47% to 36%). McCain has an advantage among Protestants (57% to 29%), fundamentalist Christians (61% to 22%), and veterans (61% to 25%).

These results and the attached analyses are based on the findings of interviews conducted between September 30 and October 5, 2008. The interviews were conducted at the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College under the direction of the poll’s Director, Dr. G. Terry Madonna, Head Methodologist, Berwood Yost, and Project Manager, Brad Nankerville. The data included in this release represent the responses of 713 registered Pennsylvanians in the 10th congressional district. Telephone numbers for the survey were randomly selected from state voter registration lists, and respondents were randomly selected from within each household. The sample error for registered voters is +/- 3.6 percent. A complete description of the methodology can be found in the attachment.

Dr. G. Terry Madonna
Director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs
Director, Franklin and Marshall College Poll
Professor of Public Affairs
Franklin & Marshall College
P.O. Box 3003
Lancaster, PA 19604
(717) 291-4052 Office
(717) 575-2164 Cell
(717) 358-4666 Fax
[email protected]