In the survey of voters, 48% indicated they would either definitely or probably vote for Branstad, while 33% said the same of Hatch.

"The Governor's lead is about where it should be at this point for an incumbent governor in a state without some of the political upheaval we are seeing elsewhere," said Steve Grubbs, CEO of Victory Enterprises.

The survey is balanced by party affiliation, gender, age and geography.  "We used the party turnout numbers from 2010 as the basis to set our targets for this survey. In that year, 40% of voter turnout was Republican and 35% Democrat.  In this off-year election, 2010 is the best predictor of voter participation this year."

In order for Senator Hatch to win, he will need to change the nature of the race substantially between now and November. As it stands, he would need  to win the undecided voters 9:1 in order to overcome Branstad's lead.

In other results, the Governor's job performance sits at 54% approving and 32% disapproving.

"The bottom line is the governor is sitting in a strong position as he enters the summer.  Incumbents prefer to be over 50% in their re-elect ballot test to feel comfortable, so its clear the governor cannot take this election for granted," said Grubbs.

Click to view the Iowa Statewide Survey top lines.

The survey has a margin of error of 4.9% and 400 registered voters participated.

This survey is the proprietary property of Victory Enterprises, Inc.

Chamber Music Quad Cities presents Amir Eldan and David Bowlin in concert on Friday, May 16th at 7:30PM  at the Unitarian Church, 3707 Eastern, Davenport.
The program will include two cello suites by J.S. Bach, performed by Amir Eldan, and a solo violin work by Chinese-American composer Huang Ruo, performed by David Bowlin. The program will conclude with Maurice Ravel's engaging Sonata for Violin and Cello.
Amir Eldan has performed as principal cellist of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and was the youngest member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra when he won the position of Assistant Principal Cello at age 22. He has performed live broadcasts on public radio in the U.S., Israel, and Europe. Currently he serves on the cello faculty at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and is a member of the Oberlin Trio with violinist David Bowlin and pianist Haewon Song.
David Bowlin has been artistic director of Chamber Music Quad Cities since 2007. He won first prize at the Washington International Competition in 2003 and has performed in New York at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd Street Y, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Merkin Hall, and Symphony Space. Recent recordings include works by Huang Ruo and Luciano Berio for Oberlin Music. Currently Bowlin serves on the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and is a member of the Oberlin Trio.
Payment is made at the door: $12 for adults and $5 for students. For further information, please call 309-797-0516 or visit the website at www.chambermusicqc.com.

The Quad City Wind Ensemble's (QCWE) Spring Concert will be performed on Saturday, May 10th at 7:30pm.  The concert will feature 2014 winner of the Charles B. DCamp Young Performers' Competition, Gabrielle Hartman, bassoon.  Location for the performance is the Allaert Auditorium at the Galvin Fine Arts Center on the St. Ambrose campus.  Admission in $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and FREE for all students through 12th grade.  See attached poster for details.

Bassoonist Hartman, a sophomore at Muscatine High School, will perform the first movement of Mozart's Bassoon Concerto with the QCWE.  Second place winner of the 2014 DCamp Young Performers' Competition went to Jacob Nishimura, a sophomore alto saxophonist from Iowa City West High School.  Third place winner was tuba player Donovan Klutho, a freshman at Bettendorf High School.

Themed "Oh, The Places We've Been", the concert includes selections chosen by QCWE members from repertoire recently performed.  Selections from this concert will also be performed during the QCWE performance at the Iowa Bandmasters Association (IBA) 2014 Conference May 15. The conference takes place at the Downtown Marriott in Des Moines, Iowa.

The IBA includes a membership of over 1,000, most of whom are directors of school bands.  It is one of the largest and most active of all state bandmaster organizations in the country.  Its driving force has kept good bands and good band music thriving in communities of all sizes through the state of Iowa.

The QCWE was founded in 1987 by Dr. Charles B. DCamp of St. Ambrose University, and has become one of the finest adult bands in the nation. In 2012 the QCWE was the Community Division winner of The American Prize in Band/Wind Ensemble Performance.  For additional information, please visit www.qcwindensemble.org, or http://www.facebook.com/qcwindensemble

Tanner Mathis hits three doubles for Quad Cities in road loss

BELOIT, Wis. (May 3, 2014) - Beloit third baseman B.A. Vollmuth broke a 1-1, fourth-inning tie with a two-run home run and designated hitter Ryan Mathews added a solo shot two batters later in a 5-3 Snappers victory over the Quad Cities River Bandits at Pohlman Field Saturday afternoon.

Quad Cities right-hander Edison Frias (0-1) allowed both home runs in his Midwest League debut and allowed Beloit (10-18) to take a lead in the first inning. Frias walked the game's first batter, center fielder Boog Powell, and allowed a single to left fielder B.J. Boyd that put runners at first base and third base. When right fielder Jaycob Brugman grounded into a double play, Powell scored the game's first run.

The River Bandits (12-16) came back to tie the game in the third inning. Left fielder Tanner Mathis led off with the first of his career-high three doubles Saturday. Center fielder Brett Phillips put down a sacrifice, and designated hitter James Ramsay lifted a game-tying sacrifice fly to center field. It was the only run against right-hander Kyle Finnegan (2-1), who allowed three hits and four walks with three strikeouts in five innigns. The right-hander stranded a Quad Cities baserunner in each of the first five innings.

The 1-1 tie remained until the foruth inning, when Brugman hit a leadoff single against Frias, and Vollmuth followed with his fourth home run of the season on a 3-2 Frias pitch that Vollmuth put over the left-field fence. With one out, Mathews drove a 2-2 pitch from Frias over the left-center field wall to extend the Snappers' lead to 4-1. Frias gave up two home runs in 57 2/3 innings in 2013. On Saturday, he allowed four earned runs on five hits and one walk with no strikeouts in a four-inning start.

Finnegan and left-hander Brent Powers kept the 4-1 lead until the top of the seventh inning, when Powers allowed a leadoff single by catcher Jobduan Morales, who went to third on a one-out double by Mathis. Phillips hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Morales, but Ramsay flied out to right field to keep the score 4-2.

Snappers right-hander Andres Avila took over in the top of the eighth inning. River Bandits first baseman Conrad Gregor reached on an error by second baseman Sam Roberts, went to second base when third baseman Tyler White was hit by a pitch, and scored when shortstop Luis Baez made a wild throw to first base on a double-play attempt.

With the Snappers' lead cut to 4-3, River Bandits right-hander Zach Morton began the bottom of the eighth inning by allowing a single to catcher Jose Chavez before a sacrifice by Powell that was the final batter in Morton's 3 1/3 innings. Left-hander Albert Minnis entered to allow two singles, including Brugman's RBI single that extended the lead to 5-3.

In the ninth inning, Avila worked around a one-out double by Mathis, who was left at second base after a Phillips flyout and Ramsay groundout to end the game. The loss was Quad Cities' 12^th by two runs or fewer this season.

Quad Cities and Beloit meet for the series rubber match at 2 p.m. Sunday. River Bandits right-hander Adrian Houser (0-0) is scheduled to face Snappers right-hander Junior Mendez (0-2).

UP NEXT: Cinco de Mayo and Markdown Monday presented by 97X kick off a six-game River Bandits homestand May 5. Bleacher tickets for the 7 p.m. game are just $2 each, with $2 specials for hot dogs, peanuts, popcorn, nachos, beer and soda, in addition to $3 . Tickets are available at www.riverbandits.com. To order any of the ticket plans - with new lower prices - call the River Bandits box office at 563-324-3000. Season ticket and mini-plan packages start at just seven games and begin at less than $40. Call a River Bandits account representative today to choose your seats and get the details of our various mini-plan packages.