FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 21, 2024
CONTACT:
Katherine (Katie) Garcia
325-513-4477
katherine@padoraforcongress.com
https://www.padoraforcongress.com
PADORA FOR CONGRESS CAMPAIGN CONDEMNS IKE MCCORKLE’S BAD POLL
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE IKE MCCORKLE ATTEMPTS TO INFLUENCE CD-4 DISTRICT THROUGH MISLEADING POLL,
PART OF GROWING TREND
WINDSOR, CO - Colorado Congressional District 4 (CD-4) Democratic candidate John Padora and his campaign team are calling out the misleading poll released by CD-4 Democratic candidate Ike McCorkle.
On March 19, CD-4 Democratic candidate Ike McCorkle posted a “Gravis Poll” to his campaign Facebook Page and other social media platforms using language that implies McCorkle is determined to be the Democratic candidate in the general election. The Facebook post alone has received more than 350 likes and includes the caption “Ike is the choice of Dem voters across Colorado's 4th District to fight the GOP nominee in the special election & take on Lauren Boebert in November.”
The CD-4 poll shows McCorkle receiving support from 48.8% of people polled, which favors McCorkle against the three other Democratic CD-4 candidates. The same poll was plucked and reworked from a bigger data table that shows McCorkle received support from only 21% of people polled. An additional 57% of people polled said they were “unsure” who they would vote for in the upcoming primary election. While the percentages in the reworked poll are proportional to the bigger data table, without the inclusion of “unsure” voters into the poll and the added language in the social media caption, the poll at face value could mislead the public to believe McCorkle is favored in this primary election. It’s also important to note the poll, which was paid for by McCorkle’s campaign, has a sample size of 439 registered likely Democratic Primary voters in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, half listed as Democratic registered voters and half as unaffiliated or third party voters.
This misrepresentation points to a larger issue in political polling in which “many polls suffer from bias due to the way respondents are selected, leading to inaccurate representations of the population.”
Padora for Congress political director Howard Chou weighed in on the gross misdirection. Chou has over 17 years of experience in political polling and market research over the course of four decades and worked on projects like the CBS Instapol Live Debate between Gore vs W. Bush and the message testing of the Hope and Change campaign for President Barack Obama.
“I find the polls on social media and text communications to be negligent and grossly flawed", said Chou. "First of all, I wouldn't believe anything from Gravis Marketing, a pollster that has been deemed by many as the worst in the industry year after year and had one of its polls historically wrong by 96 points in 2016. Secondly, any poll that has an overwhelming majority of respondents saying ‘unsure’ indicates nothing except uncertainty and is inconclusive at best and detrimentally misleading to voters at worst. It is deceitful and could cause suppression in voters."
Currently, John Padora is poised to not only receive the greatest number of delegates at the CD-4 Assembly on April 11, but he is on a trajectory to be chosen as the nominee in the upcoming special election convention on April 1. CD-4 community members have noticed John’s commitment to the district and they understand John is the most electable candidate in this race, especially considering Ike has already lost twice by sizable margins in past general elections. The primary election will happen June 25, 2024.
John Padora points to the pattern that McCorkle has recently developed to make up for lost traction in this race, especially considering McCorkle has lost in the CD-4 general election twice.
“This is not the first time Ike McCorkle has misled Coloradans,” said Padora. “This is a manipulative ploy by Ike to gain support in this election, because he knows my campaign platform is resonating with Congressional District 4 residents. Polls are meant to help the public to create an informed decision before they vote, and by releasing this misleading poll, Ike continues to put his entitlement to this open Congressional seat and his ego over the great people living in CD-4.”
John Padora is available for one-on-one interviews with advance notice. Please contact Katie Garcia at katherine@padoraforcongress.com or 325-513-4477 for interview requests.