Polling and fundraising numbers have consistently shown Governor Kay Ivey with a huge advantage over her Democratic challenger and Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox, and with only 34 days until the November 6 General Election, new evidence has emerged reaffirming the pattern.
On Tuesday, NBC News and SurveyMonkey released polling showing Ivey with a 51 – 26 percent lead over Maddox. 75 percent of respondents said they either strongly approve or somewhat approve of Ivey’s job performance as governor, which is always a tremendous sign of optimism for an incumbent’s electoral chances. The poll was an online poll of registered voters, indicating that Ivey’s strength could even be understated.
This is an even larger lead for Ivey than last week’s polling released by the Alabama Farmers Federation and a separate, independent poll that has been obtained by Yellowhammer News. Both of these polls show an approximately 20-point margin, essentially 56 – 36 percent.
On the same day that this new polling came out, Ivey and Maddox both reported their respective September fundraising hauls, with Ivey raising a whopping $735,457, which essentially doubled Maddox’s monthly total.
Over the course of the campaign, Ivey has just about tripled Maddox’s total amount raised – $6,183,622.59 to $2,089,033.80. Maddox raised $373,208 in September, $150,000 of which came from the same consortium of PACs that has raised approximately 30 percent of Maddox’s total.
With all of the numbers looking dire for Maddox, polling and fundraising alike, voters should brace for his campaign trying to spring some type of “October surprise.” Just like Democrats have done in recent years, whether it was November 2016, Doug Jones’ election or the Kavanaugh confirmation process, you can expect some type of desperate, last-minute Hail Mary attempt.
You can view the updated fundraising numbers for all statewide contested races here.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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