Republican candidate Allan Fung has a six-point lead in a hypothetical match-up with Democrat Seth Magaziner in the race for an open seat in Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District, according to a Boston Globe poll released Monday.
The poll shows Fung with 44.9% of the support, Magaziner with 38.5%, and 16.5% of voters undecided.
The poll by the Globe and Suffolk University was conducted June 19 through June 22, before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — an issue bound to take on heightened prominence during the race to fill the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin, a Democrat.
The findings are based on responses from 800 general election voters.
In match-ups with Fung, Magaziner has the most support of the six Democrats contending in a primary, with Cameron Moquin registering the least at 32%.
In the Democratic primary, the poll shows Magaziner with 30% of the support, David Segal and Joy Fox each with 8%, Omar Bah, Sarah Morgenthau and Moquin at just under 3% each — and 43% undecided.
Fung’s campaign celebrated the findings.
“It is not surprising that Rhode Islanders are rejecting Seth Magaziner’s out of touch agenda of increasing the cost of gasoline, championing drivers permits for people in our country illegally, and supporting those who want to defund the police,” Fung’s campaign said in a statement. “While Magaziner may visit us from time to time, he does not live in our congressional district and does not understand the priorities of our neighbors. As a two-term statewide office holder, he barely does better than Sarah Morgenthau, who has never lived here full time and can’t figure out which state she currently lives in to take a homestead exemption.”
Magaziner’s campaign called the results unsurprising.
“This poll shows what we already knew- there is a lot at stake in this election and Treasurer Magaziner is the strongest Democrat to take on Allan Fung in November,” said spokesman Patricia Socarras. “Nothing would be more disastrous for Rhode Island than if Allan Fung wins in November and helps the right-wing extremists take control of Congress. Magaziner will fight to defend the right to choose, protect Americans from gun violence, and reverse the climate crisis by creating clean energy jobs right here in the Ocean State.”
Morgenthau, calling herself the strongest Democrat against Fung, fired back at the Republican.
“Allan Fung doesn’t know where he stands on lowering costs for families, on a woman’s right to choose, on gun reform, on the environment, on Trump’s attempt to overturn our election, or on basically any issue,” Morgenthau campaign manager Bryan McNamara said in a statement. “Perhaps instead of throwing stones and taking cheap political shots, Allan should figure out what he stands for, other than himself. When Allan was busy losing statewide elections, Sarah was serving her country in two Presidential Administrations and delivering results in Washington across the partisan divide.”
The results are the first public polling on the CD2 race since Langevin announced his decision earlier this year to not seek re-election.
In other races, Nellie Gorbea leads the Democratic primary race for governor with 24% of the support, compared with 20% for incumbent Dan McKee, 16% for Helena Buonanno Foulkes, 5% for Matt Brown, 1% for Luis Daniel Muñoz, and 30.8% undecided.
“The poll shows that Rhode Islanders want a governor they trust to always be on their side and who knows how to get things done for people,” said Gorbea’s campaign manager, Dana Walton. “Nellie Gorbea has been in the trenches with community leaders in Rhode Island for more than thirty years, making real progress on critical challenges like housing and defending voting rights and reproductive freedoms. She’s in a great place to win this election because Rhode Islanders know and trust Nellie.”
McKee’s campaign manager, Brexton Isaacs, said McKee “is in a strong position in this campaign because he has delivered real results for Rhode Island.”
“That’s why he has earned support that is key in a Democratic primary, including from the Rhode Island Democratic Party, organized labor, and municipal and general assembly leaders,” Isaacs said. “Governor McKee has delivered significant progress for Rhode Island families, including the lowest unemployment rate in 30 years, major investments in affordable housing and renewable energy, reforms that will make our schools and communities safer from gun violence, elimination of the car tax, and tax relief for small businesses.
Foulkes spokesman Audrey Lucas touted momentum for her candidate, who was up from single digits in an earlier poll by WPRI-TV, Channel 12.
“While the other candidates have stalled, Helena is surging and our campaign is not slowing down,” Lucas said. “Our path to victory is clear. Over the next few months, Rhode Islanders across the state will get to know Helena even better and learn more about her plans to get big things done for Rhode Island.”
The margin of error for likely Democratic voters in the poll is 5.2 percentage points.
Cost of living is far and away the most important issue cited by respondents in the poll, with 32% picking that, compared with education (12%), undecided (9.6%) and gun safety (9%).
The poll shows a nearly even split on Gov. McKee’s job performance, with 40% approving, 37.5% disapproving, and 21.5% being undecided.
This story has been updated.
