Martha Coakley (D)
BOSTON (Legal Newsline)- Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is in an enviable position as she heads into the race to succeed the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, a poll indicates.
Coakley, a Democrat, leads the Democratic pack with a 20 point lead over her closest rival, U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano.
She leads him 43 percent to 22 percent, while Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca polled with 15 percent support and City Year co-founder Alan Khazei received 6 percent.
The poll indicates that 13 percent of voters are undecided on who they will support in the Dec. 8 primary. Just 26 percent of respondents said they had decided on a candidate and 24 percent said they were leaning toward a particular candidate.
Thirty-eight percent of the poll's respondents said they felt health care reform was the most important issue in the race, while 28 percent cited the economy as the No. 1 issue.
The poll of 537 Massachusetts residents was commissioned by The Boston Globe. It was conducted Nov. 13to Nov.18 by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. The poll has a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.
The Suffolk University/7News poll this month showed that on the Republican side state Sen. Scott Brown has a commanding lead over Jack Robinson. The general election is in January.
From Legal Newsline: Reach staff reporter Chris Rizo at chrisrizo@legalnewsline.com.