Indicted and facing trial for insider trading, denounced by newspaper editorials as well as numerous fellow office-holders, Rep. Chris Collins nonetheless clings to the lead as he seeks re-election in New York’s 27th District.
That was the finding of the New York Times/Siena College poll released on Tuesday morning. According to the survey, three-termer Collins, who has the ballot lines of the Republican and New York Conservative Parties, leads Democrat Nate McMurray by 46 to 43 percent.
Reform Party candidate Larry Piegza had 1 percent, Times/Siena found, and undecided voters were 10 percent. The margin of error in the poll was +/-4.7 percent.
“There are people out there who are confused,” Erie County Conservative Party Chairman Ralph Lorigo told Newsmax, “They know we are a party of principles, so when they have to deal with practicalities — such as what happened to Congressman Collins — it’s difficult.”
Lorigo pointed out that when people are informed Collins has a solidly conservative voting record “and that he’s a strong supporter of our president, they come around to him.” (Collins was the first U.S. Representative to endorse Trump for President in 2016).
He also noted that Collins was a popular county executive in Erie before he went to Congress and, the 27th District is “the most Republican in New York.”
Held by the late Jack Kemp from 1970-88, the district was firmly in Republican hands for all but two of the last 48 years.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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