With Election Day two months away, Scott Police Chief Chad Leger is leading by double digits in the race for Lafayette Parish Sheriff, according to two August polls released to The Daily Advertiser on Tuesday.

Thirty-eight percent of likely voters would vote for Leger and 21 percent would vote for attorney Mark Garber, according to a poll conducted by Virginia-based Public Opinion Strategies and released by Leger’s campaign.

An internal poll conducted by the Garber campaign also has Leger in the lead, but shows Garber steadily closing the gap. According to that poll, 34 percent would vote for Leger and 21 percent would vote for Garber.

That’s an increase from the 10 percent who said they would vote for Garber in a poll his campaign conducted in April. That poll showed Leger with 30 percent.

“It’s important to have a point of reference,” a spokesperson for the Garber campaign said. “We’ve grown our numbers at a fraction of what Leger has spent on his campaign, and we really haven’t even gotten started yet.”

Both August polls show a large number of undecided voters: 34 percent.

Former Louisiana State Police Lieutenant Rick Chargois is at four percent and LPSO Deputy John Rogers at three percent in both polls.

Rogers expressed skepticism in the polls.

“Polls are unique in the fact that they are a numbers game,” he told The Daily Advertiser on Tuesday. “Without knowing the parameters, questions and methodologies utilized, there is no definitive way to determine the validity of such numbers.

“I know the numbers are closer than that, with more like 40 percent undecided. We have two months to go and a lot of ground to cover. This is anybody’s race. As in Sheriff Neustrom’s first race in ’99, I am the voice of positive change with positive results; I am the dark horse.”

Both August polls also surveyed voters on some issues.Among the conclusions of the poll released by the Leger campaign:

•60 percent of voters said they would prefer a candidate with local law enforcement experience compared to 14 percent who preferred a candidate with federal law enforcement experience.

•63 percent of voters agreed that crime is increasing in Lafayette Parish, likely because of the shooting at The Grand Theatre as well as shooting incidents in North Lafayette.The poll released by the Garber campaign found:

•61 percent of voters would prefer a candidate with local and federal law enforcement compared to 19 percent who preferred a candidate with only local law enforcement experience.

•40 percent of likely voters had not heard of Garber. That’s where his campaign believes they can gain ground — by increasing Garber’s name recognition.

Public Opinion Strategies, which did the polling for Leger, is the largest Republican polling firm in the United States, partner Gene Ulm said Tuesday. The firm has conducted third-party polling for such politicians as U.S. Sens. David Vitter and John McCain and 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

The sample size was 400 people for the Leger-commissioned poll, 80 on cell phones to target younger voters, and had a 4.9 percent margin of error. The Garber poll’s sample size was 511. Both were done over the entirety of Lafayette Parish.