Deval Patrick Clings to Lead in Massachusetts Governor Race

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick still holds the lead in his bid for re-election over Republican Charlie Baker and independent Tim Cahill, but still looks vulnerable in the state's gubernatorial contest, according to a poll conducted Aug. 29-31 for State House News Service.

Patrick leads Baker, a former health insurance executive, by 34 percent to 28 percent with Cahill, a Democrat-turned-independent who is the state's Treasurer, at 18 percent. Green Party candidate Jill Stein gets 4 percent. The margin of error is 4.8 points.

But that margin for Patrick hardly looks impregnable given that 56 percent of those surveyed disapprove of his performance as governor.

Pollster Gerry Chervinsky told State House News: "If Deval Patrick were in a one on one race and there were no Tim Cahill, Deval Patrick wouldn't have a chance."

However, the Cahill factor has been two-edged, according to Chervinsky. While Cahill has been siphoning away some conservative Democrats from Patrick, he's also poaching some independent voters who didn't like Patrick and might have turned to Baker.

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