BOSTON (Reuters) - Republican businessman and former U.S. ambassador to Ireland Thomas Foley is leading incumbent Democrat Dannel Malloy in the Connecticut governor's race, according to a poll released on Wednesday.
In a rematch of the 2010 race between the two men, Foley holds the support of 46 percent of likely voters to Malloy's 40 percent, the Quinnipiac University poll found. Foley's lead was helped by a strong 13 percentage point advantage among independent voters.
"Tom Foley has the edge but Governor Dannel Malloy is certainly within striking distance," said poll director Douglas Schwartz.
Some 40 percent of the 1,304 likely voters surveyed Sept. 3-8 said that the economy was the top issue on their minds heading into the November election. Asked who would do a better job on the economy and employment, 54 percent favored Foley while 37 percent preferred Malloy and Foley held a 59 percent to 31 percent advantage on the issue of keeping taxes at an appropriate level.
Unemployment in the New England state stood at 6.6 percent in July, according to the most recent data available, above the 6.2 percent national average and well above the 5.6 percent in neighboring Massachusetts.
The poll has a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points.
(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Bill Trott)