Puerto Rico gubernatorial race in virtual dead heat

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A poll issued yesterday (Oct. 29) indicates that the leading candidates in the Puerto Rico gubernatorial race are essentially tied mere days away from the November 4 elections.

A poll of 802 registered voters by the French firm Ipsos, conducted from October 24-27, revealed that 41 percent of persons questioned planned to vote for New Progressive Party’s (NPP) candidate Luis Fortuño, while 38 percent would be backing incumbent

Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá of the Popular Democratic Party.
Though the poll suggests on the surface that Fortuño holds a slight lead in the race, its margin of error was a slightly overreaching 3.5 percent - making the race a virtual tie at this point in time. ~~Adz:Right~~

These most recent numbers come as a bit of a surprise to Fortuño supporters, considering the candidate held a seemingly insurmountable 27 point lead over Acevedo Vilá in a March Ipsos poll shortly after the governor had 15 charges of political corruption filed against him by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The remainder of persons polled said they would be voting for an independent candidate in the upcoming election, with Edwin Irizarry Mora securing five percent, Rogelio Figueroa receiving seven percent and former governor Pedro Rosselló obtaining six percent.
Rosselló may be having the largest impact upon Fortuño’s chances for victory, having lost the very close NPP primary race to him in March.

Since that time, Rosselló has been drawing away valuable NPP voters still dedicated to him, much in the same way political pundits feared would happen in the US elections after Senator Hillary Clinton lost to Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama.