• He is followed by former Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau at 17.5 per cent and Murang'a Woman Representative Sabina Chege at 12.6 per cent.
• Uhuru's Jubilee Party remains the most popular party at 34.8 per cent followed by UDA at 26 per cent while 29 per cent do not associate with any party.
Senator Irungu Kang'ata is the frontrunner in the Murang'a governor's race, according to a poll commissioned by the Star.
This is the first of a series of county opinion polls Radio Africa Group plans to undertake ahead of the general election in August next year.
The September poll shows that Kang'ata, who ditched President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee Party for Deputy President William Ruto's UDA, leads with 37.3 per cent support.
He is followed by former Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau with 17.5 per cent and Murang'a Woman Representative Sabina Chege with 12.6 per cent.
They are followed by Wilson Nyakera with 7.8 per cent and Joseph Wairagu with 6.7 per cent. The remaining aspirants have less than five per cent between them.
Another 9.7 per cent of respondents say they have yet to decide, while 3.2 per cent say they will not vote.
The poll of 600 adults over 22 years was conducted across all seven constituencies in Murang’a county using Computer Aided Telephone Interview (CATI) technology. The margin of error is plus or minus four per cent at a 95 per cent confidence level.
Also, 47.4 per cent of the respondents said Kang'ata would win the governorship race regardless of who they personally vote for. This compares to 15 per cent who believe Kamau will win and 9.5 per cent who believe Chege will win.
The poll shows that the senator could be a key asset for UDA and Ruto in Murang'a and possibly the Mt Kenya region.
It found that 49.3 percent of the 600 respondents said would vote for Ruto to be president if elections were held today. Murang'a Governor Mwani wa Iria, who is serving his last term, was the second most popular presidential possibility with 8.0 per cent support, followed by ODM leader Raila Odinga with 4.7 per cent and former Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth with 4.3 per cent.
Another 18.5 per cent of respondents said they are still undecided on whom to vote for.
Uhuru's Jubilee Party remains the most popular party with 34.8 per cent support, followed by UDA with 26 per cent, while 29 per cent do not associate with any party.
Kang'ata's greatest support comes from youthful respondents aged between 22 and 28 years (43.3 per cent) and those above 60 years (41.8 per cent).
Kamau draws most support from those aged between 40 and 49 years (19.8 per cent) and the 22 to 28 age group (18.9 per cent), while Chege's greatest supporters are aged between 29 and 39 at 14.6 per cent.
Kangata's greatest constituency support is in Gatanga (43.9 per cent), Kangema (42 per cent) and Mathioya (54.5 per cent).
Kamau's support mainly comes from Maragwa (25.5 per cent) and Kiharu (19.3 per cent), while Chege's support is in Kigumo (15.1 per cent) and Kiharu (15 per cent).
The poll also asked respondents about their main issues. Some 72 per cent of residents said the cost of living is the major problem, followed by unemployment at 45 per cent, poor healthcare (24 per cent), corruption (23 per cent) and poor leadership (17 per cent).