New Poll Shows Coakley With Strong Lead In Gov. Race

Attorney General Martha Coakley holds a 29-point lead over Republican Charlie Baker and Treasurer Steven Grossman edges the likely GOP gubernatorial nominee by 9 points in a new poll of 424 registered voters.

The Western New England Polling Institute survey released Wednesday morning also showed about three quarters of those surveyed had never heard of the three Democrats competing with Coakley and Grossman for the Democratic Party’s nomination — Joseph Avellone, Donald Berwick, and Juliette Kayyem.

The polls lands about two months before Democrats convened in Worcester for their election-year nominating convention, a gathering that could whittle the field since candidates must receive support from 15 percent of convention delegates to ensure a spot on the September primary ballot.

Pollsters also tested out a hypothetical match-up involving Baker, Coakley, and independents Evan Falchuk and Jeff McCormick. The result: 54 percent of voters said they would either favor or lean toward Coakley, 25 percent would favor or lean toward Baker, with Falchuk and McCormick each receiving support from 3 percent.

The poll was conducted in early April and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.