Pence Campaign Comfortable With Poll Showing Nine-Point Lead

The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette's Niki Kelly reports on an internal poll released by the campaign of Republican gubernatorial hopeful Mike Pence. The poll shows Pence holding a 9-point lead over Democrat John Gregg, 46-37%. Libertarian candidate Rupert Boneham's support is at 5% according to the poll, with another 10% undecided. The poll has a margin of error rate of 5.6% and includes only likely voters. That contrasts with a recent internal Gregg poll claiming only a 6-point Pence advantage over Gregg, 46-40%, with Boneham receiving the support of 6% of the likely voters surveyed. A Howey Politics-DePauw poll taken in September gave Pence a 47-34% lead, or a difference of 13 points. It appears to me that support for Boneham's third party candidacy is eating into Pence's potential advantage over Gregg. I still think Pence is a clear favorite to win, but his winning margin may not be as large as some Republicans had anticipated earlier in the campaign when Pence held a commanding double-digit lead over Gregg.