Poll shows tight race for Nebraska governor, with Walz five points behind Pillen

Republican Gov. Jim Pillen holds a precarious lead in the polls as the election approaches, according to a recent poll commissioned by a Democratic opponent, Lynne Walz.

Pillen is polling at 38% and Walz follows at 33%. Rick Beard, a candidate with the Legal Marijuana Now party, is polling at 12%. Meanwhile 17% of voters are undecided.

Walz’s campaign commissioned the survey from left-leaning public opinion organization Public Policy Polling. The poll shows that Pillen is on fragile ground with voters, with only 32% of all voters approving of his work. This ranks him among the least popular governors in the country, according to Morning Consult, which tracks approval ratings for the officials from all 50 states.

Among Republicans specifically, 53% approve of Pillen, while 69% of independent voters disapprove. When asked if Nebraska is on the right track, 58% of the voters polled said it is not.

Pillen’s campaign said survey methods used by pollsters varies depending on what they want the study to say.

“These numbers do not accurately reflect our own internal polling or the truth,” campaign representatives wrote in an email.

Pillen heads into a governor’s race amid criticism over his handling of a no-bid emergency contract he issued to a company he was familiar with run by a lobbyist he knows. State Auditor Mike Foley said Pillen did not justify awarding the contract under an emergency in order to skip the bid process required under state law.

Public Policy Polling surveyed 670 registered Nebraska voters in early April and reported a margin of error of 3.8%.