A new Rasmussen poll puts the state’s gubernatorial race at a statistical dead heat – with former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich three points behind incumbent Gov. Martin O’Malley. The last poll they did in February had O'Malley up by six percentage points.
The poll of 500 registered voters has 4.5 percent margin of error and shows Ehrlich with slightly higher favorability numbers – 56 percent found the former governor “favorable or somewhat favorable” while 54 percent feel that way about O’Malley.
Also O'Malley has higher negatives, with 43 percent saying they find him “unfavorable or somewhat unfavorable.” With Ehrlich, that figure was 39 percent.
O'Malley campaign manager Tom Russell is on an important conference call, but emailed back to say their camp is expecting "a hard fought race." Andy Barth said the Ehrlich camp just doesn't want to comment on polls. We've emailed the campaigns for comment, and will include when they call back.
President Barack Obama is running stronger than O’Malley, with 59 percent “strongly approving” of the job the president is doing while 50 percent feel that way about O’Malley.
The state also appears to lean in favor of the president’s health care overhaul, with 50 percent saying it good. Read the poll questions and Rasmussen's take on it at their website.