New Poll: Chafee in the Lead, Robitaille and Caprio Tied

New Poll: Chafee in the Lead, Robitaille and Caprio Tied

A new Channel 12 poll released this evening shows that Lincoln Chafee is maintaining the lead in the race for governor while Republican John Robitabille and Democrat Frank Caprio are tied.

The poll, based on a survey of 500 likely voters, shows Chafee with 33 percent support and Robitaille and Caprio each with 26 percent of the vote. Moderate Party candidate Ken Block was fourth at 4 percent, leaving 11 percent of voters undecided. The poll had a margin of error of 4.38 points.

“We're seeing a real shift in the governor's race,” pollster Joe Fleming told Channel 12. “As a result of all this, Lincoln Chafee now has a lead – for the first time in this governor's race, somebody has a lead.”

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Fleming said most of the poll was done before Caprio’s “shove-it” comment on President Obama—a sign, he said, that the Democrat was already trending downward. He said Caprio's loss had been Robitaille's gain as conservative voters shifted their support to the Republican candidate.

The results reflect those of a NBC 10-Quest Research poll released the day before. In that poll, Chafee was also in the lead with 33 percent support. Robitaille was in second, with 28 percent, and Caprio was at 25 percent - within the 4-point margin of error.