Poll shows Fincher with 10-point lead

A poll paid for by Stephen Fincher’s campaign shows Fincher with a 10-point lead in the 8th district Congressional race, in a survey of 400 registered voters from the district.
The Tarrance Group, a Republican polling firm, showed Republican candidate Fincher got 47 percent of the vote, Democratic candidate Roy Herron had 37 percent and Independent Donn Janes trailed with five percent. The results were released Tuesday.
The poll also found Fincher had a 38 percent favorable rating and Roy Herron had a 23 percent favorable rating among those surveyed.
Dresden native and longtime state Sen. Herron and Fincher — a farmer from Frog Jump and a political newcomer — face off for the U.S. House seat in the November. The two men seek to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Rep. John Tanner in a race that was billed as the most expensive U.S. House primary and a closely watched race in the general election.
The poll, done on Aug. 9-10, is the first to come out since a hard-fought and often negative primary among three Republican contenders. Herron was largely unopposed in the Democratic primary.
The margin of error for the sample is minus or plus 4.9 percent in 19 of 20 cases, according to the poll. All respondents interviewed were registered “likely” voters, including 22 percent minority voters. According to their website, the Tarrance Group is a Republican strategic research and polling firm based in Virginia.
Brandon Puttbrese, spokesman for Herron, declined to comment on whether Herron’s campaign has conducted any recent polls.
The Tarrance poll found that Fincher had more name recognition, with 72 percent of those surveyed saying they knew who Fincher was compared to 61 percent who recognized Herron’s name.
In unfavorable ratings, Fincher received 15 percent compared to a 19 percent unfavorable rating for Herron.
Paul Ciaramitaro, communications director for Fincher, said Fincher is encouraged by the poll.
“Stephen is encouraged by the results of this initial poll but he knows this will be a tough campaign and there is much work to do on the trail,” Ciaramitaro said. “He will continue to bring his common sense, conservative message directly to the voters of the 8th District and looks forward to winning their trust and their votes in November.”
Puttbrese noted that the poll was done on the heels of the primary campaign in which Fincher spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to win and also received significant media coverage.
“We have to wonder if Stephen Fincher and his Washington bosses told voters about his dangerous, job-killing agenda to ship Tennessee jobs to China and India or his plans to gamble away seniors’ Social Security money on Wall Street when they got these results,” Puttbrese said.
The poll also asked those surveyed about the race for Tennessee governor. Democratic candidate Mike McWherter and Republican candidate Bill Haslam were tied, each receiving 45 percent.

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