Hayworth maintains her overall lead due to the strong support of independent voters who side with her 53-34 percent.  Hayworth continues to lead in Orange County and in the Westchester/Putnam portion of the district.

 

Loudonville, NY: With less than three weeks until Election Day, Republican Representative Nan Hayworth leads Democratic challenger Sean Patrick Maloney by seven points, 49-42 percent, down from a 13-point lead  one month ago, according to a Siena College Research Institute poll of likely 18th C.D. voters released today.

 

Hayworth continues to be viewed favorably by more voters, 48 percent, than those that view her unfavorably, 43 percent (48-37 percent last month).

 

Maloney is now viewed unfavorably, with a negative 33-38 percent favorability rating (27-19 percent last month).  The race for president is virtually unchanged with Mitt Romney having a small 49-46 percent lead over President Obama (49-45 percent last month).

 

“One month ago, Hayworth had a 13-point lead over Maloney in what was then a 

three person race.  Today, with Maloney having secured the Working Families Party line, Hayworth leads Maloney by seven points, as she edges closer to the allimportant 50 percent mark,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg. 

 

“Maloney has made significant progress in garnering support from Democrats, while Hayworth has improved her standing with Republicans. In a district nearly evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, Hayworth maintains her overall lead due to the strong support of independent voters who side with her 53-34 percent.  Hayworth continues to lead in Orange County and in the Westchester/Putnam portion of the district, however, Maloney has turned a large deficit in Dutchess County previously, into a small lead there today,” Greenberg said.

 

“In the first Siena poll, there was no gender gap as Hayworth led by 14 points with women and 13 points with men,” Greenberg said. “Today, Hayworth continues to lead by 13 points with men, however, Maloney has pulled to within one point among women.

 

“Nearly half of voters continue to have a favorable view of Hayworth, while the number of voters viewing her unfavorably is up a little.  The good news for Maloney is that he has become better known to voters in the district.  

 

The bad news is that more voters view him unfavorably than favorably, while nearly one-third still don’t know enough about him to have an opinion,” Greenberg said.