Dave Sweet and Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) Polls released Tuesday by Maryland-based Gonzales Research are good news for Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump.
Statewide, 67% of Maryland voters “approve of the job Hogan is doing as governor”. That includes 94% of republicans, 78% of independents and 49% of democrats. Only 31% of democrats disapprove of the republican governor’s performance during his first 14 months in office.
Pollster Patrick Gonzales says Hogan’s numbers are enviable compared to those of his predecessors . Former Governor Bob Ehlrich never surpassed a 57% approval rating, while Governor Martin O’Malley’s ceiling was 58%.
Donald Trump meanwhile continued his dominance of the republican primary field, this time in Maryland’s first GOP primary poll of the season. He coasted to a 17-point victory with 32% of the vote, more than doubling Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s 15% and Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s 14%.
Gonzales also polled the democratic primary race for Barbara Mikulski’s soon-to-be-vacated Senate seat. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (38%) narrowly prevailed against Rep. Donna Edwards (36%), with 24% of likely primary voters undecided.
On the democratic side of the presidential race Gonzales showed a steep advantage for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (40%) over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (27%). Former Governor O’Malley was the primary choice of less than 5% of those polled in his home state.
(Photo: CNN)
