TalkBusiness/Hendrix has new numbers out, this time on the Dem primary in AR-01:
In the latest Talk Business-Hendrix College Poll, conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday April 24-25, 2012, 497 likely Democratic primary voters in Arkansas’ First Congressional District offered their opinions on party candidates and Crawford.
Q: There are 3 Democratic candidates for the First District Congressional seat: Scott Ellington, Clark Hall, and Gary Latanich. If the election were today, for whom would you vote?
15% – Scott Ellington
10% – Clark Hall
3.5% – Gary Latanich
71.5% – Don’t know“With no dominant candidate in the field — by that, I mean a well-known district-wide candidate — this race is extremely wide-open,” said Talk Business executive editor Roby Brock.
It’s anyone’s race at this point. What it’s going to come down to is who can mobilize some resemblance of a ground game and what get their message out in tv ads.
One final note, I would like to say something to the observers (and I mean no one in particular by saying this but just mean to point this out in general) who would marvel at the low information of 1st district voters. To them I say no shit Sherlock-Arkansans are poor folks in general and the Delta is home to the poorest of the poor. You live in poverty, you will be a low information voter-that’s the reality of life and just one example of how an Arkansas War on Poverty is long overdue.
The “low information” problem is just as much the candidates’ fault as it is the voters. They have put off debating each other, and they seem content to rely on either name recognition or social media to carry them to victory.
This goes beyond signs. I have not seen one ad in my local paper. I have not heard one ad on my local radio station. I have not received one mail out (although I did receive a great letter from Judge Phillip Whiteaker running for Court of Appeals – thank you sir, and you can count on my vote). When the Chad was running in 2010 I got a letter every other week.
I know more about Ken Aden than I do about these three combined (granted some of that is due to the tragedy that struck his campaign). But Ken’s run to end hunger and his sharp rhetoric are in stark contrast to the First District Three (you can have that). The First District Three are uninspiring, unorganized, and unenthusiastic about running against a weak incumbent. Ken would have the nomination sewn up over here for sure by now.