MA-04: Auchincloss and Mermell are neck and neck in new
Newton City Councilor Jake Auchincloss and former Brookline select board member Jesse Mermell are in a statistical dead heat in the race to succeed Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) in Massachusetts’s 4th congressional district, according to a new Jewish Insider poll released on Sunday.
Twenty-three percent of voters polled support Auchincloss, while 22% back Mermell. The winner of Tuesday’s primary is all but guaranteed to be the next representative from the deep-blue district, which comprises a number of cities and towns in southern Massachusetts with sizable Jewish populations.
The two have emerged as frontrunners in what was for months a free-for-all, that at its peak saw 12 candidates vying for the seat, which Kennedy is vacating to challenge incumbent Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA).
The poll, produced by Jewish Insider and conducted by RABA Research via phone from August 27-28, surveyed 497 Democratic and independent voters in the district. Becky Grossman, a Newton city councilor and the daughter-in-law of former State Treasurer Steve Grossman, trails Auchincloss and Mermell with 15%. Former bank regulator Ihssane Leckey, who had initially entered the race to challenge Kennedy before he decided to launch his Senate bid last September, received 11%, followed by City Year co-founder Alan Khazei with 8%, epidemiologist Natalia Linos with 7% and attorney Ben Sigel with 1%. Ten percent of likely voters are still undecided.
The poll had a margin of error of +/-4.39%.
Despite Auchincloss receiving the endorsement of the Boston Globe last month, Mermell has begun to consolidate support from other candidates ahead of Tuesday’s primary.
https://jewishinsider.com/2020/08/auchincloss-and-mermell-are-neck-and-neck-in-new-massachusetts-4th-poll/
