FARGO - North Dakota voters prefer Republican Gov. John Hoeven over Democratic challenger Joe Satrom by a margin of 70 percent to 22 percent, according to a new poll.

The poll conducted for the Forum and WDAY-TV said 8 percent of North Dakotans are undecided in the governor's race.

Pollsters also found that 52 percent of likely voters favor a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, with 36 percent opposed and 11 percent undecided.

The telephone poll was conducted last week of 623 likely North Dakota voters. It has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Hoeven had 86 percent support, compared to 10 percent for Satrom, among voters who said their economic situation is better than when Hoeven first took office.

The two candidates each had 43 percent support from those who said their financial situation is worse than when Hoeven took office four years ago.

The Forum and WDAY-TV hired the Public Affairs Institute at Minnesota State University Moorhead to conduct the poll of North Dakotans likely to vote in the Nov. 2 election. The newspaper said the Public Affairs Institute has 15 years of political polling experience.

The Forum said the principal poll investigators were MSUM political science professors James Danielson and Philip Baumann, co-directors of the institute since 1989.

Danielson, a Moorhead city councilman, has contributed to Democratic Party causes. He declined to cite specifics about his political contributions and said he conducted the poll as a professional.

Figures from the Center for Responsive Politics show Danielson donated $250 to the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party in 2003. Baumann said he has not contributed to any political campaigns in North Dakota.