Yes, that’s actually the spin coming from the Dooley camp last week after the Corrigan campaign released internal poll results. Corrigan’s stunning poll showed him trailing Dooley by only three percentage points. (46% -43%) With the margin of error factored in, the race is a “statistical dead heat.”

Corrigan press release:

The race for St. Louis County Executive is now a statistical dead heat, and Republican nominee Bill Corrigan has significant momentum. Forty-three percent (43%) of St. Louis County voters indicate they would vote for Corrigan, and only 46% indicate they would vote for incumbent Charlie Dooley. There are eleven percent (11% of voters who are undecided on this ballot test.

Any incumbent office holder who garners less than fifty percent (50%) on a trial ballot test is extremely endangered, but the fact that Corrigan is within only three points of Dooley (inside the margin of error) speaks to just how endangered Dooley is in this election.

Just as important, the slim lead that Dooley does have on this ballot test exists only because he has higher name ID right now – a condition that will not exist by the beginning of October. Among those voters who “know both” candidates, Corrigan has a three point lead over Dooley on this ballot test

Bill Corrigan has firmly established himself as the more “likeable” of the two candidates. Even at this early stage of the campaign, Corrigan has a four to one favorable to unfavorable ratio among county voters. Corrigan’s favorable to unfavorable ratio is almost twice as strong as Dooley’s image, as he stands with only a 2.2 to 1 favorable to unfavorable ratio.

Many insiders are saying that this is further evidence of amateur hour over at the Dooley campaign. Rumors have been circulating in political circles since July that the Dooley campaign had conducted a poll with the results showing Mr. Dooley with a comfortable but alarmingly small lead over an opponent with little name recognition. They decided to not release the poll because of the small (but comfortable) lead, but in hindsight, the better move obviously would have been to release it in July because you now look really stupid releasing an outdated poll. Is this the best the Dooley brain trust can come up with?

Related:

STLToday.com: St. Louis County says appeals court judge showed bias in trash case

Temporiti’s Shady Trash Pick Up Deals Hurting Dooley with Democrats

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