Official Website of Senator Jay Paul Gumm

Further, the poll – conducted by Myers Research – shows voters in Oklahoma’s Senate District 6 overwhelmingly support and like their senator. The scientific poll confirms numbers from a recent online poll by an area radio station in which listeners overwhelmingly selected Gumm as “The Best Politician in Texoma.”

The senator’s support is in stark contrast to many incumbents from both political parties seeking re-election this year, the poll reported.

“Gumm’s strength is, in part, derived from his ability to appeal to voters of all partisan stripes here,” said pollsters Andrew Myers and Ben Lazarus. “Today, Gumm earns the support of 28 percent of self-identified Republicans, 52 percent of self-identified independents, and 82 percent of self-identified Democrats.”

The poll was designed to pit Gumm, a conservative Democrat, against voters’ notion of “the ideal Republican challenger.” The results show that even the best challenger cannot hold the entire Republican base, fails to erode Gumm’s support among Independent voters, and poses no threat among registered Democrats.

In a head-to-head match-up, Gumm leads “the ideal Republican challenger” by a massive 47 points – 64 to 17 percent. Further, the pollsters report, “Senator Gumm has a 10-to-1 favorable to unfavorable ratio (69 percent to 7 percent). These numbers are significantly higher than any other public figure we tested.”

“This staggering Republican defection rate is significantly larger than trends we see in other polls across the country, especially in this political environment, let alone in Oklahoma,” the pollsters reported.

Also, the pollsters noted that Gumm’s dominance is fueled by the strength of his personal connection with his constituents. “Gumm has very high name recognition (86 percent of voters identify him), and among those who know him, he earns a blisteringly warm 75-degree mean personal feeling thermometer, as measured on a 0 to 100 scale.”

Finally, voters also give Gumm strong reviews for the job he is doing as senator. “Fully two-thirds of voters give Gumm positive professional reviews, with 66 percent rating his job as excellent or good…remarkable numbers for any incumbent in this political environment,” they wrote.

“These data point to one central truth; Senator Gumm is unequivocally on the path to re-election in 2010.”

 “As we prepare for our final Senate campaign, my family and I are deeply humbled by the support of the people for whom I work,” the senator said. “This is a great district populated by great people. It is an honor to fight for the values we share and continue our work to bring greater prosperity to the land we love.”

Gumm was first elected to the Oklahoma Senate in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. The district he serves covers all of Bryan, Johnston, and Marshall counties and parts of Atoka and Coal counties. The senator and his wife of 15 years, Deena, are the proud parents of 4-year-old Jacob, who is the fourth generation of the senator’s family to be born in Senate District 6.