Nathan Elliott
News 9
Patrice Douglas and Steve Russell have emerged as front-runners in the Republican race for Oklahoma’s 5th District U.S. Representative seat, according to a News 9/News On 6 poll.
The June 19-21 survey of 334 likely Republican voters shows Douglas with 22.5 percent and Russell with 18.9 percent or nearly even when factoring in the margin of error. Four other Republicans received support in the poll including Mike Turner (13.1 percent), Clark Jolley (12.3 percent), Shane Jett (5.7 percent) and Harvey Sparks (5.1 percent). However, nearly one quarter of respondents, or 22.3 percent, remain undecided before Tuesday’s primary.
Douglas and Russell have gained support since a May 5-10 poll which indicated no clear front-runner.
5/15/2014 Related Story: EXCLUSIVE POLL: Oklahoma’s 5th District GOP Primary Race Up For Grabs
A candidate needs to get more than 50 percent of the votes cast in the June 24 primary to avoid a runoff. The winner of the Republican primary will meet a Democrat challenger and three Independents in the Nov. 4 general election.
The poll shows most Democrat voters, or 54.3 percent, are still undecided. However, the survey indicates Tom Guild (20.7 percent) and Al McAffrey (16.2 percent) are nearly tied, when factoring in the margin of error. Leona Leonard has 8.7 percent.
About the Poll:
SoonerPoll conducted the surveys between June 19 and June 21. Respondents were selected at random using landlines and cell phones. Results were weighted by gender, age, cell phone/landline collection and Congressional district, then stratified using a model of previous primary elections. The Republican poll has a sample of 334 likely voters and a margin of error of plus or minus 5.36 percentage points. The Democrat poll has a sample size of 279 likely voters and a margin of error of plus or minus 5.86 percentage points.
