TULSA, Okla. — With three weeks until the November 8 election, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Joy Hofmeister, who switched parties from Republican, is leading incumbent Republican Governor Kevin Stitt 49% to 42%, according to a poll conducted by an Oklahoma based political consulting firm, Ascend Action.
The poll was conducted by cell phone calls, with 70% of the responses by SMS text message and 30% by live calls. The sample of the population that was polled was 638 people the firm determined were most likely to vote in the general election based on voter history, consumer data and data obtained from voter surveys. About 8% of those polled were still undecided about who they would vote for to be the next governor. The margin of error for the poll is 3.9%.
But, at Tally’s on Route 66, the patrons who spoke with FOX23 said they were decidedly voting for Stitt.
Larry Jewart is a retired mechanic, he thinks Stitt has done well for the state.
“When he first went in office, I had some problems with some of the things that he did,” Jewart said, “But since then, I think he has done well for the state and I think he’s the best one for the next term.”
Peggy Maxey also said she is supporting Stitt.
“I definitely will vote for Stitt. I think he has done a great job in Oklahoma during the pandemic and the inflation, as bad as it is, and I just think he’s done a great job,” she said. “His opponent, I think that her ideas are nothing compared to mine and a lot of her beliefs I do not believe in.”
Lynn Bates and her husband Bruce own a horse training business. She said she is voting for Stitt and she doesn’t trust the polls.
“I think the polls are probably wrong. I can’t imagine why Stitt would not be way ahead,” she said, “I think polls can be directed to whatever the pollsters want them to come out to be. I don’t know. I’ve never been polled before.”
At the Freeway Café in downtown, Larry Seale, a business owner, agreed with that sentiment.
“I have a very strong opinion about most polls that I have seen the last few years and I’m disbelieving of most of them,” he said. “Because they turn out to be wrong almost all the time.”
Seale said he isn’t sure who he’s voting for yet, but he is a conservative.
Also at the Freeway Café on Tuesday, Dean Field said he is voting for Hofmeister.
“I am supporting Joy Hofmeister,” he said. “She is doing it for the people, not for her, not for the Republican party, not for the Democratic party, but for all of us.”
Not surprisingly, the poll showed strong support for Stitt with Republicans, and strong support for Hofmeister was among Democrats.
Ascend Action poll results by FOX23 on Scribd
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