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Sen. Kennedy for governor? Poll shows he has strong support

Republican U.S. Sen. John Kennedy is likely to win reelection and could be a strong candidate for governor, a recent poll found.

The same poll found a majority of voters would prefer to support Republicans in both this year’s Senate race and next year’s election for governor.

If the election for U.S. Senate were held today, 53% of voters would support Kennedy’s reelection, Baton Rouge-based JMC Analytics and Polling found in a survey of 600 likely voters commissioned “for private subscribers.” Democrats Gary Chambers and Luke Mixon trailed Kennedy at 14% and 7% respectively.

In a question about who voters would support for governor, Kennedy led with 22%, though 29% were undecided. Trailing Kennedy in the poll results were:

  • Sharon Weston Broome (D): 14%
  • Attorney General Jeff Landry (R): 11%
  • U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R): 10%
  • Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser (R): 7%
  • State Sen. Gary Smith (D): 4%
  • State Sen. Sharon Hewitt (R): 2%
  • Treasurer John Schroder (R): 1%

Asked for their take on Gov. John Bel Edwards, the poll found 48% had a favorable opinion of Edwards while 44% had an unfavorable opinion. Asked to rate Edwards’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic, 28% say “excellent” and 67% say “fair” or better, while 30% say “poor.”

The poll found 36% had a favorable opinion of President Joe Biden while 58% had an unfavorable opinion, including 53% with a “very unfavorable” opinion. Biden’s handling of the pandemic was rated “fair” or better by 46% and “poor” by 52%.

The poll was taken March 21-23 and has a 4% margin of error.

This story originally appeared in a March 28 issue of Daily Report. To keep up with Baton Rouge business and politics, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.