An internal poll paid for 8th District congressional candidate Mussab Ali’s campaign shows that his support for “Medicare for All” could help him in his June 2nd primary matchup against U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez.
The Center for Strategic Politics conducted a poll in both English and Spanish to 416 likely Democratic voters in CD-8 Democratic primary, sending out a web link via text messages.
“Respondents outside the sampled population were screened by self-identification and voter file match. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely Democratic primary voters by age, race, gender, and geography. The margin of error is ±4.80%,” a summary, first published by Politico Playbook, says.
The poll indicates that Menendez is leading by 15 points, 42 to 27, with 31 percent undecided, though Ali leads 43 to 33 once voters are given a positive and negative assessment of both candidates.
Medicare for All, a tentpole of Ali’s campaign, was overwhelmingly popular among respondents, with 81 percent saying they either strongly or somewhat support the policy, and only 11 percent strongly or somewhat opposed.
When asked if they would support a candidate that takes donations from the healthcare and/or pharmaceutical industries, seven percent said it made them much more or somewhat likely to support, while 61 percent said it made them much less or somewhat less likely to support.
Also notably, 30 percent said they were either not sure or that it made no difference to them if a candidate took contributions from the healthcare or pharmaceutical industry.
Just under six weeks out, Menendez is favored against the former Jersey City Board of Education president, due to a sizable campaign cash advantage, along with endorsements from various labor unions and elected officials within the district.
There is no Republican candidate for Congress in the 8th District, therefore whoever wins the primary can look at the November 3rd general election as a formality before getting sworn in for a two-year term next year.