Over at Publicola, Josh Feit posted the results of a poll commissioned by King County Executive wannabe Fred Jarrett showing that most people don’t know who they’ll vote for, but of those that do, Susan Hutchison is the big winner.Wonk-junkies have been speculating for awhile that the number of hefty Democrats–two King County Council members and two rather prominent state legislators–may end up splitting the D vote, giving Hutchison a free ride to the general election. Jarrett’s poll, conducted by Hart Research Associates in late April, found that of the 500 registered voters questioned, 59 percent were still undecided. Of those that know who they’ll cast their ballot for, 20 percent said they’ll give it to Hutchison. The four Democrats split up the rest with no one getting more than 7 percent (that was Jarrett). The four of them add up to 21 percent, so technically the Dems as a whole are ahead. It’s worth mentioning that technically this is a non-partisan position now, but don’t expect voters or candidates to treat it that way.Another interesting thing shown by the poll, nearly two-thirds of those polled recognized Hutchison’s name. Everyone else managed to ring bells with only about a quarter of the people queried. That will change as campaigning kicks into high gear over the summer so the results don’t mean a lot. Hutchison’s chances in the general might be slim since her Republican status will certainly be played up, but she’s also a formidable spoiler who could thwart a two-Democrat general.And poor Alan Lobdell, the Kent engineer that everyone forgets is also running for Executive, didn’t even make the poll.
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