What polls say about how Washingtonians will vote

A new poll shows that the governor’s race is close, the presidential race is not and controversial initiatives could pass in Washington.

With the election less than three weeks away, the poll by KCTS 9 Washington shows that Democrat Jay Inslee has a slight lead over Republican Rob McKenna in the governor’s race.

A majority of the people polled back Democratic President Barack Obama over Republican nominee Mitt Romney in the state. A strong number of people polled supported the marriage equality initiative, which would give gay and lesbian couples that right to marry in Washington.

And a majority also would support legalizing marijuana in the state.

A third initiative would allow charter schools to open in Washington. More people favored approving the initiative than opposed it.

The poll was conducted between Oct. 1 to Oct. 16. The poll sampled 782 registered voters and had a margin of error of 3.5 percent. Here are the results.

For complete results on the polling, visit KCTS9.org/vote2012.

U.S. president

Barack Obama (D) — 51.8%

Mitt Romney (R) — 41.3%

Gary Johnson (L) — 1.3%

Jill Stein (G) — 0.3%

Other — 1.4%

Undecided — 3.9%

Washington governor

Jay Inslee (D) — 47.9%

Rob McKenna (R) — 44.7%

Undecided — 7.4%

U.S. Senate – Washington

Maria Cantwell (D) — 58.3%

Michael Baumgartner (R) — 34.8%

Undecided — 6.9%

Referendum 74 – marriage equality

Yes — 56.3%

No — 35.6%

Undecided — 6.1%

Initiative 502 – legalizing and regulating marijuana

Yes — 50.9%

No — 40.8%

Undecided — 8.3%

Initiative 1185 – two-thirds majority to raise taxes

Yes —53.6%

No — 31.2%

Undecided — 15.2%

Initiative 1240 – charter schools

Yes — 47.5%

No — 39.2%

Undecided —13.3%