Vitter leads early polling in gubernatorial field

Voters, obviously, are not yet tuned into the 2015 ballot, despite the intriguing races it will host.
But that didn’t stop the Metairie-based research firm Multi-Quest from going into the field for 606 live interviews with likely voters to gauge the races for governor and lieutenant governor. Conducted over three days beginning Oct. 22, it has a margin of error of +/-4 percent.
The firm paid for the poll and does not currently have a client in either of the top races.
In the race for governor, U.S. Sen. David Vitter led the group with 25.9 percent, followed by Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne at 10.9 percent.
That’s nearly identical to a Voter Consumer Research Poll from March and a Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research poll from December 2013.
A Southern Media and Opinion Research poll from November 2013 showed the same stack up top, only with Vitter leading Dardenne 30-18.
State Rep. John Bel Edwards came in at 4 percent, edging out the only other Democrat in Multi-Quest’s gubernatorial field, Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell, who hasn’t announced for the race but received 3.8 percent. Republican Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle had 2.3 percent.
While Campbell hasn’t necessarily ruled out running, the big question on the Democratic side is New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, and on the GOP side, Treasurer John Kennedy.
Vitter attracted 41 percent of the Republican vote in the Multi-Quest poll and he scored 32 percent among independents.
Dardenne runs strongest in central Louisiana, which includes Baton Rouge, besting Vitter 23-16 there.
African-American voters didn’t seem to like the field, with 70 percent undecided or refusing to say.
The poll for governor is punctuated by a large undecided vote overall, around 53 percent, which is still lower than the 72 percent who had no idea which way they would lean for lieutenant governor.
Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser led Jefferson Parish President John Young 10.3-9.6, which amounts to a statistical tie with the margin of error.
Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden, the only Democrat polled, received 8.1 percent. State Sen. Elbert Guillory, R-Opelousas, who has expressed an interest in the race, was not included. Young and Holden polled the same 11.6 percent among black voters.

Marijuana issue
will resurface

After failing to pass a medical marijuana bill last year, state Sen. Fred Mills, R-Parks, is telling supporters he will return in 2015 with legislation that focuses on different applications like oils and pills.
Danny Ford, lobbyist for the Louisiana Cannabis Industry Association, said narrowing the focus of such a proposal is a smart move.
“We’ve got to find a way to get something passed,” he said. “We’re excited about further exploring both the medicinal and agriculture sides of this issue.”
Ford said LCIA will also gear up next year to help educate the candidates for governor and to learn their stances on various issues.
Earlier this month, the association also offered up its endorsement of Congressman Bill Cassidy in the U.S. Senate race. In the first primary debate, Cassidy announced his support for medical marijuan