Ex-state Community College chancellor Bradley Byrne (R) begins his race to replace Gov. Bob Riley (R) with a slim lead over the GOP field, but with nearly half of all primary voters undecided, it's anybody's contest, a new survey shows.
The poll, conducted by Baselice & Associates (R), surveyed 1,007 regis. GOP voters between Feb. 3-4 for a margin of error of +/- 3.1%. Byrne was tested alongside ex-AL Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore (R), real estate developer Tim James (R), ex-AL Economic Development dir. Bill Johnson (R), state Rep. Robert Bentley (R) and state Treas. Kay Ivey (R).
Primary Election Matchup
Byrne 20%
Moore 17
James 8
Bentley 4
Ivey 3
Johnson 2
Moore leads among those who describe themselves as "very conservative," with 24% to Byrne's 18%, while Byrne takes 25% of somewhat conservative voters and 19% of moderate GOPers, easily outpacing the rest of the field. Byrne leads in every media market except Huntsville-Decatur, where Moore takes almost a quarter of the vote, and in counties on the state's eastern border with GA, where Moore earns 1 in 5 voters.
http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/02/al_gov_byrne_le.php