Secretary of State poll: Brown by eight

Secretary of State candidate Kate Brown (D-Portland) may have a solid lead over her rival, Rick Dancer (R-Springfield), but Dancer’s campaign said it is way too early to decide this race.

According to a poll conducted by the Portland Tribune and Fox 12, 33 percent of Oregonians said they would be backing Brown, and 25 percent said they would vote for Dancer. That leaves 38 percent of voters undecided in the race. And that's a big opportunity for Dancer, said his campaign manager, Aaron Larsen.

“The poll basically shows that this race is far from over,” Larsen said.

He also said that the two debates scheduled in that race would give voters a chance to compare the candidates side by side. The first of those debates is set to take place on Oct. 2 in Salem. The second one will be on Oct. 24 in Eugene. In the meantime, the goal for the campaign will be to increase Dancer’s name recognition in areas outside of Eugene, where he is already a well known television personality.

“Our goal would be to raise enough money for ad buys in those areas,” Larsen said. “But in the meantime, we are looking spend time in the area going door to door, and doing town halls.”

Calls to Brown’s campaign were not immediately returned.

The poll was conducted by local public opinion firm Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall Inc., by surveying 500 registered voters between Sept. 11 and Sept. 14. The margin for error in the poll is +/- 4.4 percent.