Political Gold: Another Palin endorsee takes double-digit poll lead

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Susana Martinez, who was endorsed by Sarah Palin May 15, has skyrocketed to a double-digit lead in the New Mexico Republican primary race for governor, according to a poll commissioned by New Mexico Politics and conducted Tuesday night among likely GOP voters in the Land of Enchantment:

Martinez out-polls Allen Weh 41 percent to 30. Doug Turner places third with 9 followed by Pete Domenici Jr. at 8 percent and Janice Arnold-Jones with 4. Undecided is at 8 percent.

Perhaps the most telling number is Bernalillo County where about a third of the GOP primary vote will be cast. Martinez, the Doña Ana County district attorney, garners 40 percent to Weh's 28. That's nearly identical to the statewide results, showing that Martinez's candidacy has grown from a regional campaign when it started nine months ago to one with statewide appeal that has an excellent chance of prevailing on primary election day June 1.

We surveyed 771 likely primary voters by automatic phone calls with Dialing Services LLC of Roswell, making for a low margin of error of 3.53%. The results were scaled to reflect the demographic and geographic make-up of the state. Republican Bruce Donisthorpe oversaw the survey. Complete crosstabs for the gubernatorial poll are posted here.

In her home county of Doña Ana, Martinez runs up the score against Weh 61% to 16.

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Clearly, this race has broken open since the ABQ Journal poll released May 16 showed Weh leading Martinez 31 to 30. Looking back, the same day that poll so favorable to Martinez was released, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin flew to ABQ to endorse the DA. The next day the Martinez camp came with an ad accusing Weh of being soft on amnesty for illegal immigrants. This was a one-two punch, plus one, that sent the wealthy businessman reeling, and this poll shows he is still staggering around the ring.

Ironically, the leftist blogs are lying to their readers, telling them that it's been a very bad week for candidates who have received Sarah Palin's endorsement. Yes, Vaughn Ward lost his congressional primary bid in Idaho. But in a number of important races, the majority of Gov. Palin's endorsees are performing very well.

In addition to Martinez, Carly Fiorina has opened up a double-digit lead in the California Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, and here in Texas, Rick Perry won his party's primary with Sarah Palin's endorsement, and he leads Democrat Bill White by double digits. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were both endorsed by Sarah Palin, and both won their offices handily.

Even though Rand Paul and Nikki Haley have under heavy attack from the media, both are doing well. Paul has a gigantic lead over his Democrat opponent and is considered a shoe-in in the Kentucky battle for the a U.S. Senate seat. Nikki Haley, despite a smear campaign being conducted against her by one or more of her primary opponents, has come from fourth place to the front of the pack in her bid to take the South Carolina GOP contest for Governor.

So the leftist bloggers are just plain lying when they attempt to characterize an endorsement from Sarah Palin as "the kiss of death." In the real world, Sarah Palin has made 17 specific political endorsements, and only two of those candidates, both in congressional contests, lost their races. Two of the gubernatorial candidates she endorsed won special elections, and the other won his primary and is enjoying a big lead right now. A candidate for Senate won big in the primaries with her endorsement, and another is leading in the polls in his primary race. Three women she has endorsed quite recently have all come from behind in the polls to take big leads. That's not the kiss of death. It's political gold.

Be ye not deceived.

- JP