State Sen. David Ige has the advantage in the campaign for governor, a new Hawaii Poll shows, scoring well with Japanese-Americans, seniors and union families who are among the most likely to vote in November.

Ige, the Democrat, leads former Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona, the Republican, 47 percent to 35 percent. Former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, the independent, is at 12 percent, while Jeff Davis, the Libertarian, is at 1 percent. Six percent remain undecided.

Nearly half of the voters who say they support Ige believe he shares their values or cite his party affiliation, suggesting that he is benefiting from the state’s Democratic tradition. Just 15 percent said they had never heard of or do not know enough about Ige, down from 61 percent in February, when voters first began to view him as a credible alternative to Gov. Neil Abercrombie.

"With Ige, that’s the only place that we really saw the role of party come up strongly," said Rebecca Ward, president of Ward Research Inc., which conducted the poll for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Hawaii News Now. "I believe this is a salute to the Democratic Party."

Both Hannemann and Davis have the potential to be spoilers. The poll found that Hannemann is drawing more from people who usually vote for Democrats — 61 percent, compared to 14 percent who usually vote Republican — which indicates that Ige would likely have an even larger lead without the former mayor in the mix.

The Hawaii Poll was taken from cellphone and landline interviews with 605 likely voters statewide from Oct. 11 to 18. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Most voters have a favorable impression of Ige (59 percent) and Aiona (56 percent), but only 39 percent view Hannemann favorably. Fifty percent have an unfavorable opinion of Hannemann, the worst of any of the dozen political candidates measured in the poll.

Voters have grown more comfortable with Ige since his historic upset over Abercrombie in the Democratic primary. In July, 46 percent said they were voting for Ige because they did not like Abercrombie. In the new poll, just 4 percent are backing Ige because they do not like the other candidates.

Voters said Ige shares their values (24 percent), cited party affiliation (22 percent) or leadership experience (14 percent), and his stand on budget or other fiscal matters (10 percent).

Among Aiona voters, 43 percent said the former lieutenant governor shares their values, while 23 percent cited leadership experience.

In a positive for Hannemann, 57 percent of voters who support the former mayor cited his leadership experience, his dominant campaign theme.

The poll found that voters are not very familiar with the candidates for lieutenant governor.

Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui, Ige’s running mate, had a 49 percent favorable rating, but 36 percent said they had never heard of or do not know enough about the Maui Democrat. Elwin Ahu, a former judge and a senior pastor at New Hope Metro who is Aiona’s running mate, had a 19 percent favorable rating, but 70 percent had never heard of or did not know enough about him. Lester Chang, the former city parks director who is Hannemann’s running mate, had an 8 percent favorable rating, but 77 percent had never heard of or did not know enough about him.

Ige’s low-key personality and understated, stew-and-rice campaign style provided a dramatic contrast to the bombastic Abercrombie in the primary. Political analysts have characterized the primary as more of an Abercrombie loss than an Ige win, however, and some Democrats have been privately frustrated by a few of the tactical decisions of the Ige campaign.

The poll shows, though, that Ige is strong among Japanese-Americans, seniors and union families — demographic groups that consistently vote in higher proportion in Hawaii and tend to favor Democrats.

Ige and his allies believe the grass-roots approach is connecting with voters. Ige and Hannemann are the first major candidates for governor since Linda Lingle in 1998 to voluntarily agree to honor the $1.5 million state campaign-spending limit to qualify for public funds. (Lingle, a Republican who lost a close election to Gov. Ben Cayetano, exceeded the limit and had to repay $136,000 in matching funds.)

Neither Ige nor Hannemann met the threshold for public funds during the primary — raising $100,000 in contributions of $100 or less from local residents — but Ige said he has now hit the mark and will apply for the $160,000 in available matching funds for the general election.

Ige has been actively fundraising. He has held 15 fundraisers since the August primary, compared to seven before the primary. His homespun television advertisements have been complemented by edgier, darker ads by super PACs tied to the Democratic Governors Association and the National Education Association that are critical of Aiona.

"We’re going to be working really hard. It’s about how to stay engaged and keep people engaged," Ige said. "I think that will be the challenge."

Other public and private polls have had Ige out front, but have hinted at a closer race with Aiona. Voter enthusiasm appears weaker than in previous elections for the state’s highest office, so turnout could be a more important factor than usual in the split.

"I don’t feel that the momentum has shifted on the ground," Aiona said. "I still feel like we have a lot of momentum going into November 4th. So, for us, we’re still very much encouraged and spirited and the supporters are all fired up."

Hannemann said he believes his campaign has gained momentum from his performance in a televised debate this month sponsored by Hawaii News Now and the Star-Advertiser. "The poll does not reflect the surge in momentum that we have received since the Oct. 15 debate," he said in an email. "As we know, polls are not always accurate. The people have until Nov. 4 to decide who is best qualified to lead Hawaii forward."