Probolsky poll shows that appointed Sheriff Hutchens is in the lead

Thanks to Bill Hunt, appointed Sheriff Sandra Hutchens is in the lead

New Orange County Poll Results: Hutchens Leads Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Race

ORANGE COUNTY, CA – Results from the inaugural Voice of OC/Probolsky Research Orange County Poll were released today.

Sandra Hutchens holds a double digit lead over Bill Hunt in the race for Orange County Sheriff-Coroner, though over one-half (54.6%) remain undecided.

Poll director Adam Probolsky says Hutchens is advantaged by her incumbent-like title and a lack of interest in the office of Sheriff, “Voters care very little about who occupies the office of Sheriff and won’t likely vote to make a change as long as they feel safe.”

“Coupled with the journalistic efforts at Voice of OC, this Probolsky Research poll gives the public and insiders a robust and analytical tool to help them make their decisions before Election Day,” said Voice of OC Editor-in-Chief Norberto Santana Jr. “Given these numbers, I’d say we have a race on our hands.”

“There’s a lot of undecideds amidst an unsure economy and that doesn’t usually bode well for incumbents. But the poll numbers for the challengers in this race show they haven’t had much success in getting their name out.”

“Hutchens will want to seal this race up in June because it’s a winner-take-all proposition. The goal for challengers is to make it into a runoff at this point, which would stretch the election to November.”

“That means we should all keep an eye out toward what independent expenditures do next month as mail ballots go out.”

The in-depth Voice of OC article can be found here, with the full research report at www.probolskyresearch.com or by following this link.

The Voice of OC /Probolsky Research Orange County Poll is a regular survey of Orange County voters sponsored by Voice of OC, Orange County’s premier non-profit investigative news agency dedicated to in-depth coverage of Orange County government and politics, in conjunction with Probolsky Research LLC, a California-based full service public opinion research and polling firm.

A total of 326 Orange County voters who are likely to vote in the 2010 Primary Election were polled. A survey of this size yields a margin of error of +/-5.6%.

Probolsky Research is a full service opinion research organization, with government, corporate
and political practice areas.

Probolsky Research LLC
23276 S. Pointe Drive Suite 206 Laguna Hills CA 92653 USA
Main Office: (949) 855 6400 Sacramento: (916) 258 4040 Washington DC: (202) 559 0270
www.probolskyresearch.com

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