TJ Donovan has garnered much publicity in his race for Vermont attorney general, but the public appears to still support incumbent Bill Sorrell. A new poll commissioned by Vermont Business Magazine, WCAX-TV andWDEV radio in Waterbury, and executed by the Castleton Polling Institute at Castleton College, shows likely voters in the Democratic primary gave overwhelming support to the eight-term attorney general versus the Chittenden County Stateâ s Attorney, 49.3 percent to 23.2 percent.
Attorney General William Sorrell
In a possible matchup in the fall against Republican state Senator Vince Illuzzi from Newport, Sorrell, first elected in 1996, is even more of a favorite, 54.4 percent to 23.2 percent. Sorrell and Donovan already have indicated that they will run in the Democratic primary.
Illuzzi has only indicated that he might run for attorney general, but has not committed to any race at this point. He has said he is also considering a run for state auditor of accounts, now that Republican Tom Salmon has bowed out, governor or a return to the state Senate.
State's Attorney TJ Donovan
Illuzzi also faces long odds against Donovan. The Castleton poll indicates that voters prefer Donovan in such a contest, 45.6 percent to 23.9 percent. Indeed, the Democrats are at this point at a greater advantage, as more likely voters plan to vote in the Democratic primary rather than the Republican one, 54 percent to 27.8 percent, numbers which are almost identical to the Sorrell-Illuzzi results.
The poll of 605 likely voters was conducted the week of May 7, 2012. The primary is August 28.
POLL RESULTS
QUESTION: If the 2012 election for Vermont's attorney general were held today and the candidates were TJ Donovan, the Democrat, and Vince Illuzzi, the Republican, would you vote for TJ Donovan or Vince Illuzzi?
PERCENT
DONOVAN
45.6%
ILLUZZI
23.9%
OTHER
.8%
NEITHER
3.1%
NOT SURE
25.5%
REFUSED
1.0%
QUESTION: If the 2012 election for Vermont's attorney general were held today and the candidates were Bill Sorrell, the Democrat, and Vince Illuzzi, the Republican, would you vote for Bill Sorrell or Vince Illuzzi?
PERCENT
SORRELL
54.4%
ILLUZZI
23.2%
OTHER
.2%
NEITHER
2.0%
NOT SURE
18.9%
REFUSED
1.3%
QUESTION: How likely are you to vote in the August 28thVermont statewide primary elections?
PERCENT
VERY LIKELY
65.6%
SOMEWHAT LIKELY
17.7%
NOT TOO LIKELY
6.8%
NOT LIKELY AT ALL
9.8%
NOT SURE/REFUSED
.2%
FOLLOW-UP QUESTION: [If very or somewhat likely] Will you vote in the Democratic primary or the Republican Primary?
PERCENT
DEMOCRAT
54.0%
REPUBLICAN
27.8%
NOT SURE/IT DEPENDS
17.3%
REFUSED
1.0%
FOLLOW-UP QUESTION: If the Democratic Primary were being held today, who would you support for the position of state attorney general: Bill Sorrell or TJ Donovan?
PERCENT
SORRELL
49.3%
DONOVAN
23.2%
NEITHER
1.8%
NOT SURE/IT DEPENDS
25.0%
REFUSED
.7%
This survey was conducted for WCAX, WDEV and Vermont Business Magazine by the Castleton Polling Institute at Castleton College.A total of 607 likely voters were interviewed statewide by telephone between May 7th to May 16th.
Those interviewed were selected from a random sample of registered voters in Vermont
The margin for error, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than plus or minus 4 percentage points.
RAW DATA