Poll: Obama up 13 in New Mexico, Johnson hurts Romney

A poll for Project New America and Patriot Majority, a progressive political action committee, shows that President Barack Obama is up 13 points over Mitt Romney in New Mexico. The poll finds that former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson polls at 12 percent in the state.

The poll was conducted by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates (FM3).

The poll shows that Obama leads Mitt Romney 48 percent to 35 percent, with Johnson clocking in at just in double digits. Johnson will presumably run strongest in his home state where he twice won statewide election.

“The presence of Gary Johnson on the ballot significantly undercuts Romney’s longer-term viability and may result in legal efforts by GOP-aligned groups to knock Johnson off the November ballot,” the polling memo by Craig Varoga, the president of Patriot Majority, states.

The poll finds that Obama leads Romney 62 percent to 24 percent among Latinos while Romney leads Obama 43 percent to 39 percent among white voters. Johnson gets the support of 9 percent of Latino voters and 12 percent of white voters.

The poll also shows a significant gender gap, with Obama leading Romney 53 percent to 32 percent among women, with Johnson getting the support of 9 percent. Among men, a traditionally Republican-leaning constituency, Obama leads 43 percent to 38 percent, with Johnson taking 16 percent.

The poll seems to indicate that Johnson’s presence on the ballot would indeed be a thorn in the side of Romney’s campaign.

This is the first poll since April, when Public Policy Polling showed Obama ahead of Romney 54 percent to 40 percent if Johnson was not on the ballot. When Johnson was included in that poll, he received the backing of 15 percent, though not cut into the support of either candidate significantly more than the other.

While polling in New Mexico is light, no poll dating back to last year shows Obama trailing in New Mexico and many show Obama ahead by double-digits in the state that narrowly went for Al Gore in 2000 and then went for Bush slightly in 2004.

The Patriot Majority/Project New America poll of 502 voters was codnucted from May 16 to May 21. The poll has a margin of error of 4.4 percent.