NASHVILLE – Republican Bill Haslam enjoys a healthy 56-31 percent lead over Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mike McWherter, according to an independent poll conducted Monday, just days after Knoxville Mayor Haslam won last Thursday’s contested GOP primary.
The Rasmussen Reports automated telephone survey of 500 likely voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent. Three percent of of those surveyed said they preferred another candidate, and 10 percent said they were undecided.
Haslam, who spent more than $8.8 million in his successful GOP primary contest with Zach Wamp and Ron Ramsey, won 48 percent of the vote. Rasmussen said Haslam “holds sizable leads over McWherter among both male and female voters in the state.”
The poll also found Haslam holds a near four-to-one lead over McWherter among independent voters. Sixty-two percent of Tennessee voters view Haslam as a conservative. Another 29 percent see him as politically moderate. McWherter is viewed as politically liberal by 33 percent of voters, but slightly more, 39 percent, see him as a moderate.
Both campaigns argued over the poll. The Haslam team in a news release described McWherter as “the unproven and inexperienced Democrat and beer distributor” and said Haslam leads by 25 points despite McWherter’s two-week, $500,000 ad buy this month.