Question: If the General Election for Governor was held today and the candidates were Democrat Deval Patrick, Republican Charlie Baker, Independent Tim Cahill, or Green Party Jill Stein {STYNE}, for whom will you vote or toward whom would you lean at this time?
at this time?
N= 500 100%
Vote/Lean Patrick - Democrat ................... 1 ( 1/122) 165 33%
Vote/Lean Baker - Republican ................... 2 126 25%
Vote/Lean Cahill - Independent ................. 3 114 23%
Vote/Lean Stein - Green ........................ 4 14 3%
Undecided (DO NOT READ) ........................ 5 81 16%

Question: Substituting Christy Mihos for Charlie Baker, if the General Election for Governor was held today and the candidates were Democrat Deval Patrick, Republican Christy Mihos, Independent Tim Cahill, or Green Party Jill Stein { STYNE}, for whom will you vote or toward whom would you lean at this time?
N= 500 100%
Vote/Lean Patrick - Democrat ................... 1 ( 1/123) 172 34%
Vote/Lean Mihos - Republican ................... 2 94 19%
Vote/Lean Cahill - Independent ................. 3 130 26%
Vote/Lean Stein - Green ........................ 4 16 3%
Undecided (DO NOT READ) ........................ 5 88 18%

Patrick (33 percent) still leads the tightening field, followed by Baker (25 percent), who edges out Independent candidate and State Treasurer Tim Cahill (23 percent). Green Party candidate Jill Stein has 3 percent, while 16 percent are undecided. In a November, 2009 poll, Patrick led Cahill 36 percent to 26 percent, while Baker, the former Harvard Pilgrim chief executive, was a distant third with only 15 percent.

“Charlie Baker has nearly doubled since the Scott Brown win,” said David Paleologos, Director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center. “Baker is where Brown was two weeks before the Senate election – he still trails, but he is surging and within striking distance.”

About this Poll
The statewide survey of 500 Massachusetts registered voters was conducted Feb. 21-24, 2010. The margin of error is +/- 4.4 percent at a 95 percent level of confidence. Some questions have been embargoed until Monday, March 1, 2010 at 11p.m. Marginals and full cross-tabulation data totaling 450 pages will be posted at that time on the Suffolk University Political Research Center Web site. For more information, contact David Paleologos at 781-290-9310, dpaleolo@suffolk.edu.