Poll: Republican Mia Love tied with Dem challenger in Utah House race

Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah) is tied with Democratic Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams in Utah’s 4th Congressional District race, according to a new survey.

The survey, released on Monday by the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics in partnership with The Salt Lake Tribune, shows each candidate with the support of 46 percent of registered voters, while 8 percent remain undecided. 

Love led McAdams by 6 points, 45 percent to 39 percent, in the last Tribune-Hinckley poll in June, with 16 percent of voters polling undecided or favoring other candidates.

{mosads}In the new poll, Love is currently winning Republicans by a 74 percent to 15 percent margin, while McAdams holds a strong lead — 95 percent to 3 percent — with Democratic voters.

The Democratic candidate is also leading among unaffiliated voters, 66 percent to 26 percent.

Love told reporters shortly after a debate with McAdams on Monday that she doesn’t believe the poll, saying she usually “runs five points ahead of what the Tribune” finds and that she expects to win the midterm race by at least that amount or more.

Dave Hansen, the Republican incumbent’s campaign manager, also told the local paper they feel “very confident going into these last three weeks” before midterms.

“Right now, it’s all about vote turnout and making sure that the people who are supporting her vote. We feel very confident going into these last three weeks,” Hansen said. “We feel we have a plan to get our voters out to the polls.” 

“We have seen in our polling that Ben’s unfavorables have skyrocketed once voters have learned about his tax increases and seen his negative campaigning,” Hansen added. “They do not like the negative attacks that he has been making.”

A RealClearPolitics average of polling shows the race as a toss up.

The latest Tribune-Hinckley poll was conducted from Oct. 3-11 and surveyed 403 registered Utah voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.