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Heading into the final week before Tuesday's election, a new poll gives Democrat Sim Gill a 9-point lead over Republican Steve Nelson in Gill's bid for a second term as Salt Lake County district attorney.
Gill snagged support from 51 percent of respondents in the survey conducted for UtahPolicy.com by Dan Jones & Associates. Nelson, a prosecutor in Gill's office, notched 42 percent.
The Oct. 20-23 poll of 342 active voters had an error margin of plus or minus 5.3 percentage points.
The incumbent, who defeated Lohra Miller by 8 percentage points four years ago, said he is pleased any time he receives positive information such as this, but quickly added, "I'm old-fashioned. It's not over 'til it's over. I have a lot of hard work to do and we'll continue to work right up to Election Day."
Nelson also pledged to be relentless chasing votes until the end.
"Obviously, I have a lot of work to do, but I will be working hard the next few days to close the gap," he said. "I'm still very upbeat. I've always assumed this race would be close. There's a big margin of error [in this poll] and a lot of undecideds [7 percent]. The message I've been bringing the people about my advantage as an actual trial prosecutor has been resonating with people as I meet them on their doorsteps."
While Nelson has the support of 76 percent of Republicans responding to the poll, Gill captured 20 percent of GOP voters. The incumbent also had a big advantage in independent voters (55 percent to 32 percent) and moderates (63 percent to 34 percent) while locking up 97 percent of the Democratic vote. He liked that broad base of support.
"We've approached this as a nonpartisan race because the office needs a bipartisan commitment," Gill said. "I'm leading in almost every demographic. That means that this office is being supported by everybody across the board."
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