GOP Changes Tune on Polling Firm’s Accuracy

For some political activists in New Mexico, the accuracy of a poll depends on the news it brings.

A recent survey of New Mexico voters in the presidential race shows Republican Mitt Romney closing in on President Barack Obama’s lead in New Mexico.

The survey, conducted by Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling from July 13 to July 16, showed Obama holding a lead in the race with 42 percent of the likely vote.

Romney, who PPP said trailed Obama by 13 percentage points in April, apparently gained ground with 38 percent of the vote in the updated report.

The poll is proof Obama’s support in New Mexico is fading, Republicans said.

“This reflects what most here already knew, Barack Obama’s spending and economic policies have failed New Mexicans,” New Mexico Romney campaign spokesman Clay Sutton said Wednesday in a statement after the survey was released.

But one day earlier, when PPP said Republican Heather Wilson trailed Martin Heinrich in the Senate race by 5 percentage points, state Republicans bashed PPP as a Democratic machine with “juiced” data.

“This is not a credible polling firm, but rather a liberal group that has been exposed as a ‘wholly owned subsidiary of the Democratic Party’ for using their polls to shape public opinion, rather than measure it,” the state Republican Party said in a statement protesting the PPP Senate poll.

Also in PPP’s presidential poll, former Gov. Gary Johnson trailed Obama and Romney with 13 percent of the likely vote, down from 15 percent in April.

The number of voters who identify themselves as “undecided” increased from 2 percent in April to 6 percent in July.

The margin of error in the presidential poll was plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

Confidential record: The Office of the State Auditor has rejected an Inspection of Public Records Act request from the Journal for a complaint State Fair Commissioner Charlotte Rode filed requesting an investigation into the Downs at Albuquerque lease.

Rode said she asked Auditor Hector Balderas to review the deal, which Rode alleged was manipulated by Gov. Susana Martinez administration insiders.

Rode, a Republican appointed by Martinez, declined to share her report.

The Office of the State Auditor denied public release of Rode’s complaint, saying it is protected by the state’s Confidential Matters Act.

The Governor’s Office has brushed off Rode’s allegations, saying her opposition to the Downs lease was a political move to keep a casino out of the state fairgrounds.

Contact James Monteleone at jmonteleone@abqjournal.com.
— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal