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LG Poll: Majority of Voters Undecided in Democratic Lieutenant Gov Primary

In a poll conducted by Independence Communications & Campaigns 55% of likely Democratic primary voters are undecided on who they will vote for in the Lieutenant Governor’s primary.

Braddock Mayor John Fetterman leads the candidates with 20%, Chester County commissioner, Kathi Cozzone has 10%, current Lieutenant Governor Mike Stack has 8%, state Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Montgomery) has 4%, Aryanna Berringer has 2%, and Lancaster County Commissioner Craig Lehman has 1%.  

Most of Fetterman’s support comes from his home turf in the western part of the state, getting 35% of voters in the northwest, and 41% in the southwest/Pittsburgh area.  

Fetterman also leads all candidates in favorability, with 20% of voters having a favorable opinion of his, with 13% unfavorable.  The favorability ratings are not a perfect measure for candidate though, with the majority of voters having no opinion towards all of the candidates.  This is likely caused by a lack of statewide name recognition of the candidates.  Stack and Fetterman are the only candidates who have run for statewide office in recent years.  

In good news for Stack, 50% of voters have not heard news reports about the internal investigation in to him and his wife’s behavior towards state troopers and workers at the Lieutenant Governor’s mansion.  

A large majority of voters, 81% had an unfavorable opinion of President Trump, while 14% had a favorable opinion.  Most of Trump’s favorable ratings came from the northwest and southwest parts of the state.  Majority of voters in every region of the state held an unfavorable opinion of Trump.  

The poll surveyed 467 likely Democratic primary election voters February 2 to 4 using landline interviews with IVR technology.  The poll has a 4.53% margin of error.  

Independence Communications & Campaigns is a Democratic polling and communications consulting firm based out of Levittown.  They did not conduct the poll for a client.

76 Responses

  1. Fetterman sold out to the establishment! He bought a suit, and hung up his trademark garb. Come on John, be real! I knew you were a fraud!

    1. You know your campaign is really swirling the bowl when you resort to attacking the man’s clothes.

  2. Having met all the challengers and listened to them speak a few times, honestly I think any of them would make a fine next Lt Gov. Fetterman is probably the most sincere and brings a great populist working class appeal which Dems have lacked. Both Lehman and Cozzone bring tons of great budget and working in red area experience to the table, but not as much energy. Madeline Dean is very energetic and knows just how screwed up the PA legislature is. Berringer is extremely inspirational but is probably a bit too young and lacking experience to win.

    If I had to rank them, I’d probably go
    1. Fetterman
    2. Dean
    3. Cozzone
    4. Lehman
    5. Berringer

    Tl;Dr: They all have the goods in some way shape or form but someone like Fetterman or Dean would do better with motivating the base. Cozzone and Lehman should definitely get promotions to some sort of statewide gig whether or not it’s Lt Gov. It’s up to all of us to fix PA

    1. The base is already in rally-mode.

      Pennsylvania does not need the “Cult of Personality” of Fetterman ( see ‘Trump Experiment)’

      We need a Lt. Governor that brings experience in governing ( sorry Madeline, you are part of dysfunction in our do-nothing state legislature!)

      Aryanna, I LOVE your story, but it won’t help you in this position.

      We also need someone who will work with and for the Governor with diligence and integrity:

      1. Cozzone
      2. Lehman
      3. Fetterman, Dean, Aryanna
      4. Rosa
      5. Stack

    2. How can Fetterman display “working class appeal”???
      Fetterman has never had a job. This would be disingenuous, no?????

  3. To John Fetterman: Being mayor of some pimple out in Western PA qualifies you for nothing. A borough of 2,000 is laughable and doesn’t even need a mayor.

  4. Brutally rude, the Stacks would make for a significant drag on the ticket. R’s routinely lie about the arrogance and sense of entitlement their opposition has, but here they don’t have to lie. If Philly votes Stack they doom the party

  5. Cozzone suffered a devastating loss of her 15-year campaign manager when Adam Swope was killed in a freak automobile accident the week of his sweeping victories in Chesco Row Offices in November 2017.

    In spite of this traumatic loss, Cozzone has cobbled together a winning team that will likely catch fire as the days and weeks go by to the Primary.

    Cozzone never has been a prolific fundraiser, but wins because her message resonates with voters, she sincerely cares about her work as as a government servant and she works hard to make sure that everyone has a voice at the table.

  6. I had the opportunity to hear all the Lt Gov candidates at the Progressive Summit Debate:

    1) Stack: He sharp and understands politics. He managed a good answer to the question of getting along with Wolf, by offering some examples of cooperation (though I would have enjoyed hearing his real opinion of the real behind-the-scenes Wolf). He seems to doing good work with the pardons board. He certainly could be a bigger aid to Wolf on budget negotiations if Wolf decided to stop being petty.

    2) Fetterman: He probably has more duties as Mayor than he would as Lt Gov, especially given Wolf and his staff. John has great grassroots support, especially among the disaffected Bernie crowd. John has unique insights into community policing and the needs of the small towns that have lost jobs. From his wife, he understands the plight of the dreamers and their value to society.

    3) Cozzone: She has experience with budgeting Chester county. We need serious budgeting expertise on the Governor’s team, because they are terrible at it. Cozzone is a competent and experienced at government management.

    4) Dean: She has seen how dysfunctional the PA state house is, and knows the players and has ideas on how to fix it. Wolf hasn’t the first f*cking clue about the legislature. Dean would fill a mountain sized gap in the Wolf team.

    5) Berringer: She’s a very engaging speaker, which is important when you are trying to communicate Democratic values. She’s a rare candidate who is not from “privilege” (about as far from Wolf’s upbringing as you can get). So, she understands the difficulty her working mom had making ends meet. She served in the military. She represents a voice that is under-represented in today’s politics.

    6) Lehman: His experience is similar to Cozzone’s in Chester county, dealing with budgets and county government. The budget is on a smaller scale, because it’s not a wealthy county like Chester. The county is rural with a lot of farmland and agricultural issues important to Pennsylvania.

    7) Ray Sosa: Was at the debate, but seems to be missing from the poll. Ballotpedia does not list him as a declared candidate. He’s a banker and insurance broker from Montgomery county. He gave decent answers during the debate, but is probably going to have a difficult time being in the same county as Dean.

    All the candidates have areas of strength that are lacking in Wolf’s team. The six who don’t win the Lt Gov primary should be on the short list for Wolf’s cabinet or the next State Party Chair.

  7. How friggin weird was Stack today at the Budget Address? His hair is something out of a sci-fi movie. And his facial ticks should be studied by a doctor.

    1. Does Stack still wear makeup? (Serious question. He always wore makeup as a state Senator.) Also, is he still having his parties in the LG mansion eith certain select guests? Or did Wolf put him on an allowance?

          1. Hey Anonymous, that is really an awful thing to say about Tonya Stack. If you do not like Mike Stack that’s one thing. Attack Him. But saying something about his wife is another. Leave his wife out of it. No wonder you call yourself Anonymous.

  8. PLOP! SPLAT!

    That was the sound of Mrs. Dean’s campaign hitting the floor.

    Dean for Congress??

  9. Has Fetterman ever had a job? A real, paying job? How does being the mayor of Braddock remotely qualify him to be elected to anything other than a dog catcher? Come on, Penssylvania deserves better than Fetterman. John, can you show me a pay stub for a job you might have had for a few years??

    1. Fetterman was and is a social worker. That’s what he’s been doing for 20 years. He could have easily drawn a salary from his non-profit, but instead he gives it all to the community. You can Google what he’s done or you can keep being a scumbag.

      1. He sounds like a high-falutin bum to me….and, my Idiot friend, I would bet that every candidate has done a ton of community service work, except they do their community service AND hold a paying JOB!!! Everyone would love a job where you didn’t have to dress appropriately, and never hit a lick!

        1. It shows you’re in a very weak position when you have to attack a public servant’s work over 20 years helping forgotten people to prop up your own failing candidate. Sad.

          1. If Fetterman has never had a real job, how can he represent the ‘working man/woman’???
            Fetterman sounds like a fraud…

          2. You should attend one of his events. You’d learn that Fetterman worked in the corporate world and left to teach ged classes in Pittsburgh. Instead of making up lies about one of the finest people I know, you should work on getting out of single digits. Sad.

  10. This poll is terrible. I like Berringer. Better than the other candidates and a real person.

      1. Wow. Three degrees and and a successful career certainly make her more than qualified. Then add in her military service and founding a non-profit. You’re highly unintelligent for suggesting such a thing.

  11. Kathie Cozzone has 11 years experience as a county executive and has experience working with the Governor. She’s has been appointed by Governor Wolf to various boards. Competence and experience are key attributes in this race.

    1. I was pleasantly surprised by Cozzone at the Progress Summit in Harrisburg. She is very sharp! I’d vote for her over most of the other choices. Unfortunately, the one key attribute is getting Wolf elected. I’m not sure she can do that, but I can see why you would vote for her.

    1. Unless Wolf gets help, he loses because of his poor staff. He needs a woman running mate. Berringer brings fire and bio but not money and experience. Dean brings money and experience. Cozzone is nice, but no fire and no money.
      Wolf doesn’t get help from any of the men. There’s dirt on 3 of them and Lehman is running as a technocrat–boring.

      1. I’m intrigued by the number of lies being posted here. Dean doesn’t bring any money. She loaned her campaign $100,000. You really think she’s going to spend that when she pulls 4% in a poll? $50,000 is from her house campaign and she ain’t gonna burn that on this folly. She actually raised very little.

        Berringer is just pandering to the extreme left. She is on record as wanting to completely ban fracking, which she knows darn well can’t happen anytime soon. Since when is it “progressive” to destroy good paying blue collar jobs?

      2. No one said Berringer was inexperienced when she went to war. She’s more qualified than Fetterman.

        Dean has both money and legislative experience but no real life experience. Also more qualified than Fetterman.

        1. She didn’t go to war, women were not engaged in combat at that time.

          Please stop stealing the valor of the brave men and women who have actually experienced combat.

          1. Says the pasty liberal who never wore combat boots. Show more respect for the woman who put her life on the line for yours. If you knew anything women have been involved in combat well before the “order” that allowed them in combat. buffoon.

    2. I’m with you. Berringer or Dean. Berringer is the future of the party. And so what if Dean donated money to herself. Unlike Fetterman who got a ton of cash from his Trump supporting Dad who also funds a Super PAC for him.

      Wolf needs a woman to run with him. I’d prefer a progressive one.

      1. What is Berringer’s experience in governing? Other than her military service what are her advantages? She ran for congress a few years back under her maiden name and ran a lazy campaign. Never raised money or campaigned and lost. Cozzone is a 3 term County Commissioner, and ran and lost for comptroller in a Republican county and lost by 2%-closest a Democrat ever came to winning a row office until 2017 when 4 Democratic women won. Gov Wolf needs a woman as a running mate. Kathi Cozzone brings the right resume, and the Gov already likes her and can work with her.

  12. 4%. Welp, here’s *another* number Madeline Dean can’t pad. ????.
    Maybe she could loan herself 15 points? ????

    1. Dean is a competent legislator but her skills are not what is needed for Lt Governor. We should have someone who knows how to govern, and understands the consequences of lack of funding down to the counties who provide the resources. Kathi Cozzone was appointed by the governor to participate in a pipeline task force and understands first hand about the need for funding due to the opioid crisis

      1. Dean is a snarky jerk and I hope her attitude is what is holding her back in these polls. She isn’t a competent legislator – She doesn’t work with people to get things done. She just throws bombs and is rude.

  13. I would like to know more about the way the questions were asked and if this polling company is truly “independent.”

  14. The poll was conducted February 2 to 4 ??

    Everyone in Philly was either in Minnesota for the game, or in a bar, or on the streets climbing greased poles. LOL

    You couldn’t pick a worse time to conduct a poll than Super Bowl weekend with the Eagles in the game.

    1. Because she’s actually a nice competent lady who isn’t completely awful like Dean and Berringer. And leman seems weird to me.

      1. ***Completely awful means strong women who are actual competition for Fetterman who’s a fraud.

        1. Why are you saying Cozzone isn’t strong and competent? If you read the article again, she’s at 10% which by my math suggests she is the competition. 4% and 2% is much less than 10%, therefore those two aren’t really competition.

        2. No. Awful means they are rude and unapproachable. Don’t hide Deans attitude behind their gender.

    1. “Independence Communications & Campaigns is a Democratic polling and communications consulting firm based out of Levittown. They did not conduct the poll for a client.”

  15. can you tell us how these candidates were identified in the question? meaning, was the home county given?

  16. Does anybody really believe nobody will bring out the dirt on Stack? With Brady making Philly people support Stack, he’s got an edge on the State Committee endorsement vote. In a 7 way race [this poll leaves out Ray Sosa], he likely inns the primary. That’s why he won’t get out–but he should.

    1. Unfortunately, Nobody has the money to bring out the dirt on Stack…. until the general election, then it’s going to be $10,000,000 tying Stack to Wolf which is going to cost us the election.

    2. The real question is why would the voters want to saddle our Governor with a liability? Why not diversify the ticket. include a woman. A woman with skills who can bring advantages to the Governor. He has a problem in Southeast Pa. Cozzone comes from Chester County. She brings a voting block that the Governor is weak on.

  17. Lol at Madeline Dean getting 4% and losing to no-name Cozzone. Fetterman is obnoxious and will not win. I guarantee Stack pulls it out. He’s still got the Philadelphia Democratic machine behind him

        1. I’ve met Fetterman several times. Like him or not, he’s the polar opposite of pretentious.

  18. Worth pointing out that Fetterman is the only candidate with unfavorable rating. My guess is the more he talks the more that will grow. #FraudFetterman.

    1. Uh, you may want to reread the article. He has the MOST favorable rating. Reading is fundamental!

      Fetterman is one of the most sincere and kind people I know, and we go back to when he was setting up the first computer labs in inner city Pittsburgh in the 90s. You’re the fraud.

      1. 1. 13% unfavorable – only candidate that registered an unfavorable rating.

        2. He lied about his support for banning fracking.

        3. He lied about supporting a woman’s right to choose.

        4. He lied about wanting to end citizens united when his family started a Super PAC for him

        He’s a liar and a fraud. #FraudFetterman

        1. 1. Wrong again.

          2. Lie. Fetterman NEVER called for a ban on fracking and has always said it’s a necessary evil until other options are available. He’s always called for tighter regulations and taxing.

          3. Lie. Fetterman has unequivocally supported a woman’s right to choose. In fact he’s on record as saying he WOULD have a litmus test for Supreme Court Justices that they MUST support Roe vs. Wade in order for his vote.

          4. Fetterman was outspent 20:1 in the Senate campaign against tens of millions of outsider money. Every candidate in that race, not to mention every D running calls for an end to Citizens United.

          1. Fetterman lost his statewide race big time. He carries the “progressive” title because of Bernie, but his positions on the issues are not really progressive and he was recruited and endorsed by the establishment. And he doesn’t really want the job so why should we choose him

          2. Contactsport, Fetterman didn’t lose his statewide race “bigtime” He pulled 20% of the vote while being outspent 20:1.

            I personally like and support Fetterman because he does more than have “positions.” He actually has lived his “positions” for the last 20 years. He was setting up computer labs, teaching GED classes, youth jobs programs, building playgrounds, urban gardens, community centers, getting heat turned back on for people in the cold. He was the only elected official in PA performing gay marriages when it was still illegal.

            I’ll never get the infatuation with Bernie… a guy who lives in the whitest of white places and has never gotten his hands dirty. John actually does what Bernie only says we should be doing. Do you see the difference?

            Why vote for John? Because he’s the only one who can move the needle to help get Wolf reelected. Stack is too big a liability for Wolf. God help us if the republicans gain control of the Gov.

          3. Can we just call out that “Big Daddy” is just John Fetterman with nothing else to do but comment on articles on Politics PA.

            **Also, John just go ask your Dad for your next paycheck and quit trying to run for a position your are entirely unqualified for.

          4. That would be false, Fetterman has many supporters as referenced by the most recent poll. My twitter feed says he’s in Philly today, you should go see him.

            You’re an all talk paper liberal who’s never lifted a finger to help anyone and has an odd vendetta against someone who does.

  19. It’s worth pointing out that this was a landline only poll, which will certainly skew in favor the candidates like Cozzone, Dean and even Stack. Fetterman outperformed similar polls by as much as 15% in the Senate primary.

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