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Poll Shows McAllister Race Is Wide Open

McAllister faces five other candidates in the race for his seat. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
McAllister faces five other candidates in the race for his seat. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

A poll released Monday showed no clear front-runner in the race for embattled Rep. Vance McAllister’s seat in Louisiana.  

The Republican was among the top three candidates in the automated poll, conducted by a GOP firm, which surveyed 504 likely voters in the 5th District.  

Earlier this year, McAllister was caught on camera  kissing a married staffer — several months after he won a special election for the seat. But given the crowded field, it is very unlikely any of the six candidates will garner 50 percent of the vote on Election Day, which means the race will continue to a runoff between the top two vote-recipients in December.  In the poll, Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo, the only Democrat in the race, ran a couple points ahead of McAllister, with 19 percent of support, compared to the congressman’s 17 percent. Republican pharmaceutical salesman Zach Dasher posted 13 percent in the survey.  

More than 21 percent of the likely voters surveyed were undecided.  

Cygnal, a GOP campaign and communications firm based in Alabama, facilitated the poll, surveying voters from Sept. 22 to 24. The poll had a 4 percent margin of error.  

Dasher, who has received support from the conservative Club for Growth, was among the least recognized candidates. Sixteen percent of respondents said they had never heard of Dasher, who is related to the stars of the reality television show “Duck Dynasty,” which is taped in the district.  

Mayo will likely solidify one spot in the runoff by coalescing the Democrats in the district, while McAllister and the four other Republicans will vie for the other spot.  

The Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call rates the race Safe Republican .  

Related Stories:

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McAllister ‘Disappointed’ in Chief of Staff Arrested for DUI


The 10 Most Vulnerable House Members


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