Polls: Who’s Ahead?

> The Mervin Field California poll now shows Pat Brown leading Nixon 46% to 43% among all voters; but among those considered most likely to vote, the candidates stand at a ding-dong 46%-46% deadlock.

> The Opinion Research Corp. of Princeton, N.J. reported that Republican George Cabot Lodge is closing the gap on Democrat Teddy Kennedy in their Massachusetts Senate race. Among all voters, Kennedy leads by 46.5% to 42.5%; last spring the same poll showed Teddy winning 52% to 34%. Among independents Lodge is now ahead 43% to 40%; last spring he trailed Kennedy by 33% to 46%. Although the poll was sponsored by Republicans, it nonetheless gave new heart to the Lodge forces, caused a few tremors in the Kennedy camp.

> Sam Lubell, doorbell ringing around New York, discovered defections by one out of every six voters who backed Republican Rockefeller in 1958. The main reasons: Rocky’s tax increases and his divorce. But much of the loss is offset by Democrats shifting to Rocky rather than vote for Morgenthau. Said one: “The Democrats are running a nobody.” Lubell’s conclusion: Rockefeller should win, but by less than the 573,000-vote margin that made him Governor in ’58.

> A Houston Chronicle canvass gave Democrat John Connally a 3-2 lead over conservative Republican Jack Cox for Governor of Texas. But the survey team noted that Republicans are working hard, might win if complacent Democrats fail to get out a big vote.

> The latest Detroit News poll turned up a sizable gain for Republican George Romney. A month ago, he led Governor John Swainson narrowly, 49.7% to 49.5%; last week he jumped to a 52%-to-47-3% lead.