Suitability for Next Gangwon Province Governor Shows 'Three-Way Race Within Margin of Error'... Former Assemblyman Kim Jin-tae Ranks First

Jin-tae Kim, Nam-gi Hong, Seong-dong Kwon Lead
People Power Party Ahead of Democratic Party by 5-6%

Gangwon Ilbo 'Next Gangwon Province Governor Candidate Suitability Poll' Results [Captured from Gangwon Ilbo]

[Asia Economy Reporter La Young-cheol] A media outlet in the Gangwon region conducted a public opinion poll on the suitability of candidates for the Gangwon Province governor election, one year ahead of next year's local elections, revealing a close race within the margin of error between candidates from both ruling and opposition parties.

In a suitability survey for the governor candidates commissioned by Gangwon Ilbo to the polling specialist Realmeter, conducted over two days on the 24th and 25th among 825 men and women aged 18 and older residing in Gangwon Province (with a 95% confidence level and ±3.4% margin of error), former lawmaker Kim Jin-tae (People Power Party) received the highest response rate at 13.8%, followed by Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Hong Nam-ki (12.3%) and National Assembly member Kwon Seong-dong (Gangneung, People Power Party) at 10.3%.

The gap among these three candidates was within 3.5 percentage points, indicating a close contest within the margin of error. Notably, former lawmaker Kim and Deputy Prime Minister Hong showed strong support in their hometown Chuncheon, receiving 21.8% and 20.1% respectively, forming a tight competition.

In the suitability ratings for Democratic Party candidates, Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki led with 21.4%, doubling Won Chang-mook, mayor of Wonju City, who had 10.2%. For the People Power Party candidates, former lawmaker Kim Jin-tae (17.6%) and lawmaker Kwon Seong-dong (16.3%) were in a neck-and-neck race with a 1.3 percentage point difference.

Party support rates showed People Power Party at 32.4%, Democratic Party at 26.5%, People's Party at 5.0%, and Justice Party at 4.5%.

The Gangwon Province governor candidate suitability survey was conducted with a sample of 825 men and women aged 18 and older residing in Gangwon Province, composed of 20% landline and 80% mobile phone respondents. Mobile respondents were randomly sampled after being assigned virtual numbers, and landline respondents were randomly selected within the RDD sample frame.

The survey method combined structured telephone interviews (50%) and automated responses (50%), conducted over two days from the 24th to the 25th. The sampling error was ±3.4 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. Out of 10,057 call attempts, 825 responded, resulting in a response rate of 6.8%.

Gangwon Domin Ilbo 'Next Gangwon Province Governor Candidate Suitability Poll' Results [Captured from Gangwon Domin Ilbo]

Meanwhile, in a public opinion poll commissioned by Gangwon Domin Ilbo to DOpinion, conducted over two days from the 27th to the 28th among 801 men and women aged 18 and older residing in the province, former National Assembly member Kim Jin-tae of the People Power Party received 17.3% for the 'next governor candidate suitability,' followed by fellow party member lawmaker Kwon Seong-dong at 15.7%.

Next were Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Hong Nam-ki, considered a pro-government candidate, at 13.1%, former Blue House National Communication Secretary Jeong Man-ho at 7.0%, Won Chang-mook, mayor of Wonju City, at 6.5%, former Jeju Deputy Governor Park Jeong-ha at 4.3%, former Gangwon Research Institute director Yuk Dong-han at 2.8%, and former Korea Tourism Organization president Jeong Chang-su at 2.5%.

In response to the question about 'next presidential candidate suitability,' former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl led with 37.9%, followed by Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung at 19.8%, and former Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon at 8.3%.

National Assembly member Lee Kwang-jae (Wonju Gap), who declared his presidential candidacy on the 27th, ranked fourth with 8.2%, followed by former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun at 3.8%, former People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Seung-min at 3.0%, and People's Party leader Ahn Cheol-soo at 2.3%. Governor Choi Moon-soon received 1.5%.

Regarding the evaluation of the Moon Jae-in administration in its fifth year, more than half of Gangwon residents gave a negative assessment. For the 'presidential performance evaluation,' 61.4% of respondents gave a negative rating, which was 27.7 percentage points higher than the positive rating of 33.7%.

Party support rates showed higher opposition support with People Power Party at 31.4% and Democratic Party at 26.7%.

This survey was conducted using an automated response system (ARS) with random digit dialing (RDD) of mobile phones (65%) and landlines (35%) provided by telecommunications companies, targeting 801 men and women aged 18 and older residing in the province.

The sample was weighted by gender, age, and region according to the resident registration population statistics from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety as of the end of April 2021. The sampling error was ±3.5 percentage points at a 95% confidence level, with a response rate of 1.9% (7.9% for mobile and 0.8% for landline).

For more details, please refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission or the websites of each media outlet.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.