Blakeman campaign releases a McLaughlin internal showing Hochul 49.6, Blakeman 45.7 among 800 likely voters (Aug 27-31); release omits margin of error, mode and question wording
On Sept. 8 the Blakeman campaign released a McLaughlin & Associates survey of 800 likely voters fielded Aug. 27-31: Hochul 49.6%, Blakeman 45.7%, undecided 4.7%. The campaign called the 3.9-point gap inside the margin of error but did not publish a numerical MOE, survey mode, weighting or question order. Other toplines from the release: Hochul 42/55 favorable/unfavorable, Blakeman 40/30 with 30% unfamiliar; 56% "time for someone new" vs 38% "deserves reelection"; among the 80% who said they knew both candidates, Blakeman led 52-44 (threshold undefined). Context: this is a campaign-sponsored poll from a Republican firm. The most recent independent poll, Siena Aug 3-6 LV, had Hochul 49-39; a Democratic-aligned Concord/ERN poll Aug 19-21 had 50-34. Logged in the polls table flagged is_partisan. No Hochul campaign response in the release.