Kennedy Tops List of Democratic Contenders

The Harris Survey

For Release: Thursday, July 3, 1975

- KENNEDY TOPS LIST OF DEMOCRATIC CONTENDERS

BY LOUIS HARRIS Sen. Kennedy holds a wide lead over the 23 other potential Democratic nominees for the Presidential election. 1 A 31 percent plurality votes for Kennedy as first choice, and he is 16 percentage points ahead of his greatest competitor, Alabama Gov. Wallace.

If Kennedy decides not to run, Wallace would move into first place with 18 percent, followed by Sen. Humphrey at 12 percent, Senators Hackson and Muskie at 10 percent each, and Sen. McGovern at 9 percent.

Of the Democratic top runners, the only new faces to show any signs of rising strength are Ohio Sen,. Glenn and California Gov. Brown. But most of the possible Democratic candidates with any standing are old faces, which is ironic because more than seven in 10 voters have said they would like to vote for new and different politicians.

The problem of most of the possible nominees is that they are relatively unknown. Sen. Bentsen, Rep. Udall, Wallace, Jackson, ex-Gov. Carter, ex-Gov. Sanford and ex-Sen. Fred Harris are still unknown to 49 percent of all likely Democratic and independent voters, and the collective vote for all of these hopefuls is no more than 26 percent.

From June 4 to 10, the Harris Survey asked a cross section of 1,028 likely Democratic and independent voters: "Here is a list of people who have been mentioned as possible .nominees of the Democratic Party for President in 1976. (HAm RESPONDENT CARD) Now which one on that list would be your first choice for the nomination for President in 1976 if you had to choose right now?"

With Kennedy In With Kennedy Out X X Sen. Edward Kennedy Gov. George Wallace Sen. Henry Jackson Sen. Hubert Humphrey Sen. Edmund Muskie Sen. George McGovern Sen. John Glenn Sen. Birch Bayh Gov. Jerry Brown Sen. Lloyd Bentsen Sen. Frank Church Gov. Ruben Askew Sen. Walter Mondale .Ex-Sen. Fred Harris Sen. William Proxmire Rep. Morris Udall Gov. Hugh Carey Sen. Dale Bumpers Ex-Gov. Terry Sanford Ex-Gov. Jimmy Carter Ex-undersecretary of State George Ball Gov. Daniel Walker Mayor Kevin White Not Sure None * = Less than 1/2 of 1% -- = 0%

- OVER - The cross section was then asked:

"Now which ones on that list do you feel you are not familiar enough with to be able to make a judgment about them?" and 2 "Which ones on that list do you feel you could not vote for if they became the Democratic nominee for President in 1976?"

LEADING DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES NOT FAMILIAR WITH AND CANDIDATES COULD NOT VOTE FOR

Not Familiar Could Not With Vote For X (V Sen. Edward Kennedy 4 Gov. George Wallace 6 Sen. Hubert Humphrey 7 Sen. George McGovern 7 Sen. Edmund Muskie 10 Sen. Henry Jackson 2 5 Sen. John Glenn 30 Sen. William Proxmire 3 3 Sen. Frank Church 34 Rep. Morris Udall 48 Sen. Birch Bayh 48 Sen. Walter Mondale 4 9 Gov. Jerry Brown 53 Gov. Hugh Carey 57 Ex-Gov. Jimmy Carter 58 Ex-Sen. Fred Harris 61 Sen. Lloyd Bentsen 62 Mayor Kevin White 6 2 Ex-Gov. Terry Sanford 64 Gov. Reuben Askew 64 Ex-undersecretary of State George Ball 65 Gov. Daniel Walker 66 Sen. Dale Bumpers 68 Familiar with all 6 Could not vote for all XX

XX = Not asked

These results are not good news for Gov. George Wallace, since 37 percent of call Democrats and independents say they could not vote for him if nominated. Significantly, twice as many people say they could not vote for Wallace than consider him their first choice. But McGovern and Humphrey also have considerably more voters against than for them, and a substantial 17 percent say they could not vote for Kennedy.

Apparently, members of the Democratic party are confused by the marked lack of support for any one potential nominee. So, Kennedy, the. most familiar face, emerges as the winner by default.