WBUR – New Poll Suggests Women Souring On Gomez

A new poll suggests women are souring on Republican Gabriel Gomez in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate race.

Steve Koczela, president of MassINC Polling Group, which conducts surveys for WBUR, said Gomez’s declining fortunes among women recall the fate of former Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Scott Brown.

Lowell Sun – Many good reasons to update bottle bill

Buy a case of soda and you’re going to be charged a nickel for each bottle or can. Buy a case of bottled water and there is no nickel deposit.

According to a January 2011 poll by the MassINC Polling Group, 77 percent of Massachusetts residents support an update to the bottle bill. That support cut across constituencies; regardless of age, party, gender, or location, Bay State citizens overwhelmingly support the update.

Boston Globe – Will the city’s new mayor be pro-charter?

IT WAS a juxtaposition that demonstrates the way things are changing in Boston.

Still, the fact that three top-tier candidates support raising the cap on Commonwealth charters shows how the political environment is changing. So too does a new poll of Boston voters: Commissioned by two pro-charter groups and conducted by the MassINC Polling Group, it found that 64 percent of Boston voters want the charter cap lifted, with only 23 percent opposed.

NECN – Broadside: When pollsters diverge
There’s nothing new about talking to a pollster about his latest numbers in a hot political race – but talking to two pollsters with results that differ is.

A Suffolk University poll found that Democrat Ed Markey leads Republican Gabriel Gomez by a wide margin, 52 percent to 35 percent; however, a WBUR/Mass Inc poll says Markey’s lead over Gomez is much smaller, with 41 percent for Markey and 35 percent for Gomez.

National Journal – Varying Markey Leads in Polls

MA SEN special: According to a new Suffolk Univ./WHDH-TV poll of special election LVs, conducted 5/4-7, Rep. Edward Markey (D) leads Gomez, 55-38% (release).

 A separate WBUR-FM poll of special election LVs, conducted 5/5-6 by MassINC Polling Group, shows Markey leading Gomez, 46-38% (release).

The Hill – Second poll suggests tighter race between Markey, Gomez

A new poll released Thursday shows Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) holding just a six-point lead over Republican nominee Gabriel Gomez in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate race, suggesting the highly scrutinized special election may remain a close race.

“Either way you look at it — with leaners or without leaners — you’ve got a race within single digits coming out of the primary,” says Steve Koczela, president of the MassINC Polling Group, in a statement. “You’ve got a competitive race.”

WBUR – On The Ball Fields Of Savin Hill, A Snapshot Of Where The Senate Race Stands

A WBUR poll (PDFs – topline, crosstabs) finds a tight race between the U.S. Senate candidates. Democratic Congressman Ed Markey leads Republican private equity manager Gabriel Gomez by six points, 41 to 35 percent, with 23 percent undecided.

“We ask, initially, who people are going to vote for, and there we found Markey with a six-point lead, and then if people said that they were undecided, we asked who they were leaning towards, and there, we found Markey with an eight-point lead, so among the people who were initially undecided, we found a few more of them leaning towards Markey as this point,” MassINC Polling Group pollster Steve Koczela said.

WBUR – Markey Edges Gomez In WBUR Senate Poll

A new WBUR poll (PDFs – topline, crosstabs) shows U.S. Rep. Edward Markey leading former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez 41 to 35 percent in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate race.

“Either way you look at it — with leaners or without leaners — you’ve got a race within single digits coming out of the primary,” says Steve Koczela, president of the MassINC Polling Group, which conducted the survey for WBUR. “You’ve got a competitive race.”

Sentinel and Enterprise – Conflicting polls in U.S. Senate race

Results of the fourth poll in the U.S. Senate race were released Thursday morning and showed Congressman Edward Markey with a six-point lead over Republican Gabriel Gomez.

The WBUR poll, conducted by The MassINC Polling Group, showed Markey at 41 percent and Gomez at 35 percent, with a significant 23 percent of respondents undecided.

TPM – New Poll Shows Markey Up 8

On the heels of a poll showing Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) with a sizable advantage in the U.S. Senate special election in Massachusetts, a survey out Thursday morning showed the Democrat with a smaller edge.

The latest survey from MassINC Polling Group, conducted on behalf of WBUR, showed Markey earning the support of 46 percent of likely Bay State voters while his Republican opponent, Gabriel Gomez, picked up the support of 38 percent.

Huffington Post – Ed Markey Leads Gabriel Gomez In Massachusetts Senate Polls

Democratic Congressman Ed Markey holds a lead over Republican political newcomer Gabriel Gomez in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate race, though a newly released pair of polls differ on how wide his margin is.

A MassInc Polling Group/WBUR poll released on Thursday found that Markey, who has spent more than three decades in the House of Representatives, had the firm support of 41 percent of likely voters, with private equity executive Gabriel Gomez having 35 percent. When undecided voters were pushed to say which candidate they were leaning towards, Markey’s lead broadened to 46 percent to 38 percent.

Boston Globe – New poll finds single-digit Senate race

A new poll released this morning by WBUR found Democratic US Representative Edward J. Markey leading Republican Gabriel E. Gomez by eight points among likely voters in their race for the US Senate.

In the WBUR survey, conducted by the MassINC Polling Group, 43 percent of those polled had a favorable opinion of Markey, while 25 percent had an unfavorable view of him. Thirty-seven percent had a favorable view of Gomez, while 16 percent had an unfavorable view of him. Six percent of those polled had never heard of Markey, while 15 percent had never heard of Gomez, a political newcomer.

CNN – New polls puts Democrat on top in Mass. Senate race

Two new polls suggest the Democrats have the lead in the battle for an open U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts up for grabs next month.

The WBUR survey was conducted May 5-6 by the MassInc Polling Group, with 497 likely voters in the Bay State questioned by telephone. The survey’s sampling error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

Boston Business Journal – MassINC: Consumer confidence rebounds in latest quarter

Consumer confidence in Massachusetts rebounded in the first quarter to levels it attained late last year, according to the MassInc Polling Group’s Trend Monitor report.

Fall River Herald – Want to learn more about biking safety? A whole week of programming

A WGBH News poll released over the weekend shows that only one out of three Massachusetts residents feel drivers and bicyclists on the region’s roads interact safely.

The series launched today with analysis on WGBH’s Morning Edition of the WGBH News poll from Steve Koczela, president of MassINC Polling Group, which conducted the survey for WGBH News. Coverage will continue on Boston Public Radio and the Greater Boston program on WGBH 2.

Cape Cod Today – 66 percent support more charter schools

Charter school proponents on Monday morning were promoting new poll results showing voters in the Boston area support lifting caps on the number of charter schools by a nearly three to one margin.

There are 22 charter schools in Boston that serve more than 7,700 students but thousands more are on wait lists and the city is “frozen” to new charters, according to the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, which circulated the results of a survey conducted by TheMassINC Polling Group.

The Lowell Sun – Poll: Mass. consumers more confident

Consumer confidence in Massachusetts rebounded last month from a downturn earlier in the year, according to a survey from The MassIINC Polling Group.

Springfield Republican – Consumer confidence on the rise in Massachusetts, new MassINC poll indicates

Consumer confidence  rose significantly last month, according to a a new poll released by Monday by a Boston-based polling group. 

After a sharp downturn in January, consumer confidence rebounded in the April reading, with the Massachusetts Index of Consumer Sentiment nearing the record high attained in October 2012, according to the MassINC Polling Group.

Springfield Republican – Editorial: Fear curbs our yearning for personal freedoms

Almost a dozen years after the World Trade Center attacks, the land of the free is still a much more skittish place than it was on Sept. 10, 2001. 

A poll – taken days after one suspect was killed in a police shoot-out and a second arrested – showed that Massachusetts residents expressed a strongly positive impression of law enforcement and gave their stamp of approval to the overall response to the attack. According to the Boston-based think-tank MassINC poll, a full 91 percent of respondents approved of the decision to lock down parts of Greater Boston while law enforcement officials searched for suspect 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who escaped police after his older brother, Tamerlan, alleged leader of the bombing plot, was killed.

The Boston Globe – Red Sox seek permanent street-lease deal

Before Fenway games, thousands of Sox fans flock to temporary concession stands outside the gates to buy beer and frankfurters. Meanwhile, scores of attendees take their $165 seats atop the stadium’s iconic left-field wall, the Green Monster.

Yawkey Way concession revenue appears likely to rise in the future because the team’s competitors — 18 private vendors with permits to sell food and drink around the ballpark — are being gradually phased out by the city. As the current permit holders retire or die, the city will not allow other vendors to replace them, CommonWealth magazine reported in January.

WBUR – Poll: Most Mass. Residents Back Shutdown Of Area For Marathon Manhunt

A strong majority of Massachusetts residents agree with the decision to lock down the Boston area during the search for one of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers, according to a new poll.

The poll, from MassINC, finds that 91 percent of residents support authorities’ decision to implement a “shelter in place” request and halt MBTA service during the manhunt.

Boston Magazine – Poll: Overall, Residents Approve of the Police Response to the Bombings

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis was pleased with how law officials apprehended Boston Bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev, and the way they responded to the explosions the day of the marathon, calling the actions of officers and first responders “tremendous.”

Following the mayhem that cast a shadow over Boston during a week-long manhunt for the suspects involved with the bombs detonated at the marathon on April 15, the MassINC Polling Group, a non-partisan organization that conducts statewide quarterly polls, asked residents how they thought police, the FBI and other law enforcement officials handled the response to the attacks, and eventual capture of one of the bombing suspects.

Springfield Republican – MassINC Poll: Massachusetts voters hold positive view of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Gov. Deval Patrick
A new MassINC Polling Group survey concludes that a majority of Massachusetts residents hold positive opinions about Democratic U.S. Sen.Elizabeth Warren and Gov. Deval Patrick.

Springfield Republican – Boston Marathon bombing polls shows Massachusetts residents support decision to lockdown city, state police efforts in case
Ninety-one percent of Massachusetts residents agree with the decision to lock down parts of Greater Boston while looking for the second Boston Marathon bombing suspect April 19 and 86 percent have a favorable opinion of the state police’s handling of the case, according to survey results released Tuesday morning by The MassInc Polling Group.

The Boston Globe – A Senate race that has been hard to focus on

Brutal snowstorms, an upheaval in Boston city politics, a contentious tax debate on Beacon Hill, and now terrorism at the Marathon. Since nearly the opening hours of the race to fill John Kerry’s US Senate seat, a series of events has smothered the campaign and raised serious questions over the efficacy of special elections.

Other experienced observers of state politics agree. “This is like a race that didn’t happen,’’ said Gregory Torres, president of Mass Inc, a nonpartisan think tank that has in the past sponsored debates in statewide political races. “This is a United States Senate seat, for God’s sake. We need to have a much more vigorous debate and examination of the candidates and the issues.’’

Fox News – Bombing shifts Massachusetts Senate race before primaries Tuesday

Even before the explosions, polling suggested that Massachusetts voters weren’t excited about the looming special election to replace former U.S. Sen. John Kerry.

Weeks before the blasts, Steve Koczela, president of MassINC Polling Group, found that more than 40 percent of likely Democratic voters and nearly 50 percent of likely Republican voters hadn’t settled on a candidate.

Boston Magazine – Another Day, Another Report on Massachusetts’ Botched Prison Policies
MassINC and Community Resources for Justice (CRJ) released a new report on the state of criminal justice health in Massachusetts. The report points out well-worn zingers such as “A decade ago, higher education surpassed spending on cor¬rections by 25 percent. Today the higher education budget is 21 percent lower.”.

The Boston Globe – Regional transit systems hope to gain from funding bill

Josh Colon travels four hours per day, five days per week, to get from his North Adams home to classes at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield and back.

A report released last month by MassINC, a research group focused on public policy issues, argued the regional bus services were key to fostering economic growth in the state’s up-and-coming cities.

Go Local Worcester – Report: MA’s Criminal Justice Policies Costly, Ineffective
A Bay State non-partisan think tank and polling group,Massacchusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassINC), says that the Commonwealth is spending too much on criminal justice and not seeing the benefits.

Cape Cod Times – Gonsalves: Dealing with recidivism from the inside out

The furthest thought from Amelie Scheltema’s mind was to go to prison.

Two weeks ago, MassINC’s newly formed Criminal Justice Reform Coalition published a cost-benefit analysis of the Bay State’s criminal justice system.