Bismarck Tribune - North Dakota News - Polls: Many undecided in insurance race; Hoeven, Pomeroy hold big leads

Polls: Many undecided in insurance race; Hoeven, Pomeroy hold big leads

Oct 15, 2008 - 04:05:22 CDT

FARGO (AP) - North Dakota's candidates for insurance commissioner will be competing for undecided voters in the campaign's final weeks.

In a poll commissioned by The Forum newspaper, 43 percent of the people surveyed said they haven't made up their minds whether to vote for Republican Adam Hamm or Democrat Jasper Schneider.

In other poll results, Gov. John Hoeven and Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., hold large leads over their challengers.

Thirty-four percent of the people surveyed are backing Hamm, while 22 percent are favoring Schneider.

Both men are running their first statewide campaigns. Hamm was appointed as North Dakota's insurance commissioner last year after incumbent Republican Jim Poolman resigned.

Schneider is a Fargo attorney and first-term state representative.

n In the U.S. House race, Pomeroy is likely to beat Republican challenger Duane Sand for the second time next month.

The survey says 60 percent of the people polled are backing Pomeroy. The Democrat is running for his ninth term in the U.S. House.

Twenty-eight percent of the poll's respondents are supporting Sand, and 12 percent were undecided.

Four years ago, Pomeroy beat Sand with 60 percent of the vote. In 2000, Sand lost to Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad. Conrad got 61 percent of the vote.

n Hoeven appears to have an easy path to an unprecedented third four-year term as the state's chief executive.

Seventy-three percent of the people who responded to the poll said they favor the Republican governor in his race against Democratic challenger Tim Mathern.

Mathern is a state senator from Fargo who is making his first statewide race. Eighteen percent of the poll's respondents said they were supporting Mathern. Nine percent were undecided.

The voters who were surveyed said that economic development, jobs and rising health care costs were their top concerns in the election campaign.

Hoeven got 71 percent of the vote when he won his second term in 2004. Since the term of North Dakota's governor was lengthened from two to four years in 1964, no governor has won three terms in office.

The polls were commissioned by The Forum newspaper, and done by the Public Affairs Institute of Minnesota State University Moorhead.

Pollsters interviewed 606 likely North Dakota voters by telephone Oct. 6-8. The poll has a 4 percent sampling error margin.

News > State

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Comments

Sb03 wrote on Oct 26, 2008 11:44 PM:

" Voting has nothing to do with terms. If you are voting based on that matter, that is extremely absurd and illogical. I just dont understand why people are so obsessed with change. Dont get me wrong, I love change, but only for the good. We can obviously see that governor Hoeven has had much success as governor. I could go on and on telling you, but i'll trust that you will be an informed voter. Why would we want to risk voting for someone like Senator Mathern whom, checking facts on him, is obviously a bad candidate. That is much too big of a rick to be taking just on the silly basis of change. "

NDGuy wrote on Oct 21, 2008 2:03 PM:

" Polls are for politicians and editors. They mean nothing until you and I (taxpayers) step into the voting booth and make our mark. The only term limits we have right now is called an election. We need to clean house!!! These people have come to believe that 'election' and 'coronation' are the same things. We had one revolution based on the idea of self government, it's about time for another. Go to the polls on the 4th PLEASE. VOTE MAD. VOTE ANTI-INCUMBENT ALL THE WAY. As for Bono, let me ask in return, what good did the massive pork barrel laden, garbage pail of a bill do anyway? All it did was to insure more campaign contributions to the incumbents and big vacations to the Wall Street fat cats. And sb03, Hoven has been a good governor, so far. I will not vote for him. Again, all I can say is two terms is enough for any man/woman. Once they get beyond that point they begin to work for themselves not the people. VOTE MAD. VOTE ANTI-INCUMBENT. Remember, your retirement account went to the investment bankers! "

Sb03 wrote on Oct 21, 2008 11:41 AM:

" to "Change too,"
If you like Hoeven and the things he is doing, why wouldn't he be the best option for governor. I agree that change can be a good thing, but change is definitely not necessary in this case. We have to remember that we are in a surplus in our economy, something that not many states can say. This is something we definitely do not want change. Looking at Senator Mathern as a potential governor, that is to much of a risk to be voting for him on the basis of just "change." The proposals he has out there may be change, but definitely in the wrong direction, Take for example taxes: Yes, Senator Mathern has been talking about tax relief today, but unfrtunately he is working behind the scenes on a plan to raise taxes for working North Dakotans. Right now he has a bill in front of the Legislative interim Employee Benefits Programs Committee, which will raise payroll taxes up to 10 percent on working North Dakotans. You want change...really?! "

Bono wrote on Oct 16, 2008 1:51 PM:

" What alternative do all you folks think should have happened instead of the bailout? Any ideas or is it all just Pomeroy bashing at it's best? "

SE Forty wrote on Oct 15, 2008 7:01 PM:

" I lean to the left and I STILL think pomeroy has to go. I will not vote for this incumbent simply because of the 700 Billion dollar bailout for the rich and greedy. "

Stacy wrote on Oct 15, 2008 2:10 PM:

" I am a huge Schneider supporter and am proud of his work in the legislature and think he is the right person for Insurance Commissioner. Hamm has been on the job for almost a year and has done nothing but political stunts. Schneider I believe is going to do the work for the ND people. I don't always believe in polls, and for someone who has been in office for a year and only has 34% of the vote says a lot. I believe Schneider is going to win and take on the responsibilty as a commissioner and not as a political candidate. "

change too wrote on Oct 15, 2008 1:00 PM:

" I agree with the idea of term limits. I'm an independant voter most of the time. I like Hoeven, but do not agree to the third term. Let someone new come in and bring new ideas. Congressmen....we really need term limits. We need change. Really what does it mean that we have to elect a new president every four years, but the ones that really run the show get to stay for life? Doesn't make much sense to me. Might as well let any president run forever too. I do work in the insurance industry in ND and Adam Hamm really does seem to work for the people of this state. He is working hard on health care and trying to bring other players in to compete against BCBS and working on ways to make it more of a competitive marketplace for the people of ND. "

Change Needed wrote on Oct 15, 2008 12:47 PM:

" Pomeroy is heavily involved in all the major issues in Washington. Pomerory votes to spend billions and billions of dollars on government waste. Pomeroy is part of the reason we have a 10 trillion dollar deficit. I am a strong proponent of term limits. America needs about 80% of congress "flushed" out so we Americans can have our country back. Vote Duane Sand for Real Change! "

JT wrote on Oct 15, 2008 12:08 PM:

" Duane Sand has my vote! I want the 3 stooges of ND out. And Hoeven as well. 8 yrs is enough. Give someone else a chance. And Jasper Schneider is getting my vote as well. Iam voting against Hoeven's Good Ole Boys!!! "

LB wrote on Oct 15, 2008 11:14 AM:

" I will NOT vote for Pomeroy, simply because of his huge pop-up ads on the Trib's front page!!! AUGGHHHH talk about aggravating. "

Tim 2 wrote on Oct 15, 2008 11:01 AM:

" One day awhile back, when the "bailout" debockle was going on one of my freinds and I wrote letters to Pomeroy outlining our disgust with the bailout and told him as a Represenative of ND he represented the people of ND and our opinion was for him not to vote for it. Well,,, we all know what happened there!! A few weeks go by and I get a letter in the mail from him(Pomeroy), and wouldn't you know it, after comparing the return letter with my freind, they are form letters, totally off the subject, rambling on about who is to blame about the financial mess we are in,blah blah blah. I found it rather disturbuing that a US Rep from our stat can't even take the time to explain his position, just a form letter rambling on about something else. Pomeroy is so out of touch with ND needs it is inexcusable. Whoever votes for him gets just what they deserve!! "

Frankthetank wrote on Oct 15, 2008 10:43 AM:

" Are people really happy with Pomeroy? To me, 8 terms is about 6 too many for ANY Congressman. Keeping the same idiot politicians in our Congress year after year isn't solving anything. Did North Dakota citizens want him to vote for the $850 billion bailout? No. Did he? Yes. Isn't he supposed to represent us? The guy running against him OPPOSED this bailout. If you want someone to represent North Dakota's interests it's time to vote out these "politicians for life" that forgot they were elected to represent their people. "

GrampsWithCramps wrote on Oct 15, 2008 10:07 AM:

" John - If the undecideds split 50/50 (which is what happens in most cases) Hamm wins.

Hamm has done a good job in his short tenure - especially stopping Blue Cross from jacking their rates again so they can pay their big-wigs more $$$. "

Tim wrote on Oct 15, 2008 8:11 AM:

" Pomeroy voted for the 700 Billion bailout, cannot believe people are voting for him after this. If you complain about the govt. spending your money and taxing you, and you vote for Pomeroy, stop your complaining, your part of the problem. "

John wrote on Oct 15, 2008 8:01 AM:

" I think Hamm is in serious trouble if he is that far below 50% as an incumbent. My money is on Schneider to pull this off although it's going to be close. Schneider's positive message resignates with people and Hamm has done very little to impress in his time in office. "

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