Political outsider Bob Stefanowski has pulled ahead of Democrat Ned Lamont in the race for governor in Connecticut, a new poll reveals.

The latest Sacred Heart University/Hearst Connecticut Media Group poll finds Stefanowski with a 2.4 percentage point lead over Lamont – still within the margin of error. In the poll released Thursday, Stefanowski leads Lamont 40-37.6 percent, with Independent candidate Oz Griebel at 9 percent and 12 percent of those polled undecided.

The previous survey in October found 39.5 percent of likely voters supported Lamont, while 36.1 percent favored Stefanowski.

According to the poll, much of Stefanowski’s gains are largely due to support from Connecticut women:

Ned Lamont’s lead among female voters has decreased as 40.8% currently support his candidacy compared to 50.0% in October 2018. 45.2% of male voters continue to support Bob Stefanowski (R) compared to 34.4% of male voters who support Ned Lamont (D). Currently, 38.4% of Connecticut voters have a “favorable” view of Ned Lamont (D) compared to 40.8% who have an “unfavorable” view of the candidate. 41.6% have a “favorable” view of Bob Stefanowski (R) compared to 37.8% who have an unfavorable view. Voters with a “favorable” view of Stefanowski increased from 34.9% recorded in October 2018.

Of those surveyed for the current poll, 38.4 percent of Connecticut voters approved of President Donald Trump – an increase by more than three percentage points over the previous poll.

“While unaffiliated voters are supporting the Republican (43.6 percent), 20 percent of them are still undecided, and the race continues to be highly competitive,” said Lesley DeNardis, executive director of the Institute for Public Policy and director of Sacred Heart University’s master of public administration program.

DeNardis continued:

High taxes, the state budget crisis and low economic growth continue to be the major factors the race will hinge on. Ultimately, the candidate the voters believe will do a better job of returning Connecticut to economic health, creating new jobs and offering more long-term solutions tied to improved quality of life and cost-of-living issues will prevail.

GreatBlue Research conducted the poll of 500 likely voters between October 29 and 31, via landline and cell phone. The poll has a margin of error of 4.32 percentage points for the full sample.