By Keegan Gibson, Managing Editor

County Councilman Chuck McCullough holds a slight lead in the primary matchup with Mt. Lebanon Commissioner and businessman D. Raja.

A Municipoll/PoliticsPA survey of 385 likely Republican primary voters showed that McCullough garners 30 percent of a hypothetical vote versus 24 percent for Raja in the race for the GOP nod for Allegheny County Executive. A significant 46 percent of voters are undecided. The margin of error was plus or minus 5 percent.

However, McCullough’s pending legal issues seem to have put a dent in his approval ratings. A mere 5.4 percent of voters have a favorable impression of the Councilman, who has been accused of defrauding an elderly widow. (The Post-Gazette reported Sunday that his trial has been postponed until after the May 17 primary). 21 percent have a negative opinion of McCullough, with 73 percent undecided.

Raja has more favorable numbers, though still net negative. 14.5 percent have a favorable opinion of him, while 18 percent view him negatively. 67 percent are undecided.

“It’s rare that a party would field two candidates who are viewed unfavorably even by the voters of their own party,” said pollster Ed Haggerty. “This is anyone’s race at this point but given the depth of negativity towards McCullough, Raja probably has the most room to grow.”

Indeed, many analysts believe that McCullough’s strength lies in his political base in southern Allegheny County (and his Irish name). This poll seems to suggest that those factors aren’t enough to give him an immediate advantage, especially considering the significant funds Raja is expected to invest in the race.

Conversely, Allegheny County Republican insiders close to Raja have quietly expressed concern that his name could be a disadvantage in a general election as well as a primary. It’s very distinct from the Irish, Italian, Eastern European and African American names that dominate Allegheny politics.

Municipoll designed and administered this survey, which was conducted by phone using IVR technology from April 1 to April 3. Telephone numbers for the sample were generated by a file of registered voters in Allegheny County. Respondents were compared to the voter file and all interviews that were incompatible with the voters listed for that household, according to their age and gender were eliminated from the sample. The data were weighted slightly by gender and age. Margin of error is + or – 4.99.

PoliticsPA will be reporting on further poll numbers this week, with Democratic primary numbers tomorrow, and general election matchups on Wednesday.