Politics

Coakley in the Driver’s Seat a Week Before Primary

Massachusetts Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls, from left, Don Berwick, Martha Coakley and Steve Grossman at the state Democratic Convention in Worcester, Mass. The three face each other for their party's nomination in the state's primary election on Sept. 9. Stephan Savoia/AP

By Roberto Scalese

September 3, 2014

1 minute to read

Martha Coakley continues to dominate Democratic gubernatorial primary candidates Steve Grossman and Don Berwick in the polls. A UMass Lowell/7 News poll has the Attorney General (52 percent) with a crushing 32-point lead over Grossman (20 percent), and 41-point lead over Berwick (9 percent) among likely Democratic primary voters.

Coakley also has a comfortable 9 percentage-point lead over Republican primary favorite Charlie Baker among registered voters. That result is a departure from a recent Boston Globe poll that had the two in a dead heat.

The poll randomly sampled 1,624 registered voters and 624 likely Democratic primary voters. You can read about the poll’s full methodology here.

In another close race, Warren Tolman leads Maura Healey 39 percent to 34 percent in their fight for the Attorney General’s office. There is a whopping 27 percent undecided in that contest.

The poll also showed that anti-casino forces may have their work cut out for them as the Summer fades to memory. The poll showed 59 percent of respondents would vote “no’’ on the ballot question, meaning they’d vote against repeal.