Poll: Branstad stretches lead over Hatch to 22 percent

DES MOINES - Republican Gov. Terry Branstad has posted a wide lead over Democratic challenger Jack Hatch in a new Loras College Poll conducted after the Labor Day holiday.

The survey of 1,200 likely 2014 general election voters conducted Sept. 2-5 found that 55.5 percent supported Branstad, a five-term incumbent, compared to 33.5 percent who favored Hatch, a three-term state senator making his first bid for statewide office in Iowa. Another 11 percent of the surveyed voters were undecided in a poll that had a margin of error of 2.82 percent.

'While Gov. Branstad has his critics, he is a formidable statewide candidate, and he is showing that again in his current re-election bid,” said Christopher Budzisz, an associate professor of politics who directs the Loras College Poll. 'But, that support gap could always narrow in the coming weeks.

'So far, Gov. Branstad is clearly benefiting from his established name and campaign apparatus, as well as the sense by voters that Iowa, unlike the country as a whole, is moving in the right direction,” he added.

The survey conducted with a random sample of registered voters who voted in the 2012 general election or registered since the 2012 election identified 62.6 percent of the respondents as believing the state of Iowa is on the right track while 20.8 percent felt Iowa was moving in the wrong direction under Branstad's leadership while 16.2 percent were unsure.

By contrast, 59.5 percent held the opinion that the country overall is headed in the wrong direction, while roughly one fourth felt the United States is on the correct course and 15.3 percent registered as unsure.

'These right track/wrong direction numbers certainly provide fertile ground for Branstad to make his case to Iowa voters to re-elect him,” Budzisz noted. 'I imagine that many incumbents would envy that kind of climate for re-election. While two months is a long time in politics, Gov. Branstad is in a strong position.”

The latest results show increased support for Branstad - who enjoys a huge fundraising and name identification edge - and decreased support for Hatch, said Budzisa, who noted the Loras College Poll taken immediately after the primaries in June found Branstad leading the race 51.7 percent to 37.8 percent.

Branstad-Reynolds campaign manager Jake Ketzner noted the 22-point lead in the Loras College poll is the largest margin of 2014 for the Branstad-Reynolds team, topping a 17-percent divide in a recent poll by Rasmussen Reports.

'With one statewide debate already in the books, a visit to each of 99 counties by Gov. Branstad and Lt. Gov. (Kim) Reynolds already this year, eight positive ads for the general election, and plummeting support for Jack Hatch and his recycled, failed policies, things are looking bright for team Branstad-Reynolds - and for Iowa,” according to a response issued by the Branstad-Reynolds campaign.

Officials with the Hatch-Vernon campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday, but one day earlier campaign manager Grant Woodard expressed confidence that a new TV ad campaign launched Monday would boost Hatch's effort by seizing on a feeling among Iowa voters that Branstad has been in office too long and are ready for a change of direction.

'Once he completes his term, he'll have been the governor of the state for 20 years and we feel that there's not too much to show for it,” he said.

Woodard conceded that Hatch's campaign needed a 'breakthrough” now that Iowa voters have returned from summer vacations and are assessing the fall campaigns.

'We think that this race certainly is going to tighten up quite a bit as Iowans begin to pay attention and as people begin voting here within a week,” he told reporters.