Dem poll shows tie with Shays

A new poll conducted for Democratic challenger Jim Himes shows him pulling even with Republican Rep. Christopher Shays, 45-45.

{mosads}According to a Himes campaign memo, his new strength is a result of voters’ increasing familiarity with him. The poll shows that 60 percent of voters say they are familiar with Himes, compared to 49 percent in August.

Himes’s support among Democrats has also grown. The poll found that 69 percent of registered Democrats support Himes, and 23 percent support Shays, one of the few GOPers who holds a Democratic-leaning district.

The poll shows 4th district voters favor Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama to Republican John McCain, 56 percent to 33.

The Himes campaign declined to release the poll’s methodology or the questions asked.
Sean Phillips, a spokesman for the Shays campaign, said Himes’s polling “is not showing what ours is."