MA McLaughlin & Associates

To:Sweeney for Congress
From:John McLaughlin

McLaughlin & Associates

Date:September 6, 2006

Re:Survey Results – August 30, 2006

SWEENEY STRENGTHENS LEAD IN U.S. CONGRESS RACE

Ballot Test

As we enter September, John Sweeney leads Kirsten Gillibrand in the race for U.S. Congress by 17 points, 53% to 36%.

Among the 3 in 4 voters who are aware of both candidates Congressman Sweeney maintains a decisive lead, 52% to 39%. So, even when Kirsten Gillibrand is equally known she fails to significantly close the race.

United States Congress Ballot

6/20 / 8/30 / Heard Of Both
John Sweeney / 49 / 53 / 52
Kirsten Gillibrand / 32 / 36 / 39
Undecided / 19 / 10 / 9

Perceptions of Candidates

In spite of all the attacks from Kirsten Gillibrand and her supporting third party organizations, John Sweeney’s favorable ratings have remained strong and has even gone up 4 points from our poll that was conducted back in June. John Sweeney’s opinion and ballot rating are now both above 50%, strengthening his numbers as an incumbent.

Opinion John Sweeney

6/20 / 8/30
Favorable / 46 / 51
Unfavorable / 34 / 34
Net Diff. / +12 / +17

In the same period, Kirsten Gillibrand’s unfavorable rating has multiplied 5 times since June from 4% to 20%. She is clearly feeling the backlash from voters who cite that she is running a negative campaign. Specifically, leading verbatim associated with her cite: “dirty campaign”, “dishonest”, “no experience” and “carpetbagger.”

Opinion Kirsten Gillibrand

6/20 / 8/30
Favorable / 13 / 29
Unfavorable / 4 / 20
Net Diff. / +9 / +9

Key Demographics

Media Market/Area

Total
Albany/Schenectady / 76
Saratoga County / 31
Columbia County / 10
Warren County / 10
Washington County / 8
Rensselaer County / 11
Green County / 7
New York City / 14
Rest of District / 10
Binghamton / 6
Burlington / 2
Utica / 3

With which political party are you registered?

Total
Republican / 46
Democrat / 30
Conservative / 4
Working Families / 1
Non Affil./Ind. / 17
Other / 1
DK/Refused / 2

What is your age?

Total
18-25 / 2
26-40 / 9
41-55 / 36
56-65 / 23
Over 65 / 25
Refused / 5

Gender

Total
Men / 48
Women / 52

Methodology

McLaughlin & Associates conducted this poll of 300 likely voters in New York’s 20th Congressional district on behalf of Sweeney for Congress. The poll was in the field August 29-30, 2006. All interviews were conducted via telephone by professional interviewers. Interview selection was random within predetermined election units. These units were structured to statistically correlate with actual distributions of voters district-wide. This poll of 300 likely general election voters has a margin of error of +/- 5.6% at a 95% confidence interval.

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