Gubernatorial candidates little known by Massachusetts voters, new poll finds
Most voters say they have never heard of current Democratic candidates Harvard Professor Danielle Allen (70% never heard of), State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz (54%), or former State Senator Ben Downing (67%). Downing has exited the race since the poll was taken. In each case, another 15-25% had heard of the candidate but did not know enough about them to offer an opinion.
Among the Democratic candidates, Attorney General Maura Healey is best known, but she is far from safe should she seek the governor’s office. Only half rate her either favorably (33%) or unfavorably (17%), while the rest have either never heard of her or have not formed a favorable or unfavorable view (22%). These numbers do not suggest the election is a foregone conclusion, though she is the very early frontrunner.
On the other side of the aisle, 12% of voters view Republican Geoff Diehl favorably, compared to 15% who view him unfavorably. The rest either have not formed an opinion or have never heard of him. These are lower awareness numbers than the end of his unsuccessful 2018 Senate campaign, suggesting some voters have forgotten about his candidacy. Among those who have heard of him, views are sharply divided by party, foreshadowing the difficulty Diehl could face in a general election.
Future MPG polls will include other candidates as they declare, and will look at matchups between candidates. As this poll shows, candidates on both sides have a long way to go.
The poll also included questions on COVID response, and what people are comfortable doing in the current environment. Only 26% feel the situation with COVID is better now than it was a year ago, while the rest say it’s either the same (39%) or worse (27%).
The central tension revealed in the COVID poll results is between those who are vaccinated and those who are not. Those who are vaccinated are more hesitant about public spaces such as restaurants, indoor sports, and theaters, while the unvaccinated perceive less danger and support less interventions. Put another way, those who feel the safest are actually in the greatest danger, and are themselves a greater danger to others. These results will be analyzed in greater detail in a new piece for CommonWealth Magazine, due out later today.
About the poll: The poll was released this morning as a part of The Horse Race podcast January 6th, 2022 episode. Check out the latest episodes and hear more about the poll results here. The Horse Race is the state’s leading political podcast, offering a weekly look at politics, policy, and elections in Massachusetts.
These results are based on a survey of 1,026 Massachusetts registered voters. Voters were contacted between December 20-26, 2021 via online survey interviewing. The final data were weighted by known and estimated demographics for registered voters statewide by age and gender, race, education level, geography, and political party identification.