Rowland Lead Growing in Conn. Governor's Race

HAMDEN, Conn. – Republican Gov. John G. Rowland is building up his lead over his old Democratic foe Bill Curry, a poll released Wednesday shows.

The Quinnipiac University poll found that Rowland had a 59 percent to 37 percent lead over Curry among likely voters.

Among registered voters, Rowland had 54 percent to Curry's 32 percent, similar to his 51 percent to 34 percent lead among registered voters in a Quinnipiac poll released July 31.

"Governor Rowland has halted Curry's momentum. This is the first Quinnipiac University poll in which Rowland did not lose ground to Curry,'' Douglas Schwartz, the poll director said.

In a poll released by the University of Connecticut last week, Rowland had a 17 point lead over Curry among registered voters.

The telephone poll of 1,518 registered voters was conducted between Sept. 24 and Sept. 30 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Rowland narrowly defeated Curry in a four-way race in 1994. The former Clinton administration domestic policy adviser has waged an aggressive campaign, and it has been a bitter and sometimes personal contest.