INDIANAPOLIS (NETWORK INDIANA): A new poll mirrors the governor’s race from four years ago.

The first true survey of this year’s race shows Governor Pence with a four-point lead over Democratic challenger John Gregg, 49 percent to 45 percent. That places the race within the poll’s margin of error of 4.3 percent and is very close to the 2012 governor’s race – Pence beat Gregg by roughly three-percentage points, with Libertarian Rupert Boneham picking up four-percent of the vote.

The survey was commissioned by WTHR-TV and Howey Politics Indiana and was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies April 18-21. 500 likely voters were surveyed, with two sets of over samples – 479 Democrats and 507 Republicans. The survey was conducted before the state Libertarian Party chose Rex Bell as its nominee for governor this year.

Even though Gregg was the Democratic nominee four years ago, more than half the people surveyed (54 percent) said they had not heard of him. Pence leads Gregg among men surveyed, while Gregg has a slight lead among women and independents. Gregg has a large lead over Pence among Marion County voters, while Pence has a large lead among voters in the counties surrounding Marion.