GREAT BEND, Kan. - A new poll released by KWCH-Channel 12 in Wichita shows that Mike Pompeo's TV ads, coupled with his attacks on Wink Hartman regarding Hartman's vacation home in Florida, have paid off.
A similar poll taken by KWCH-Channel 12 taken in February showed Hartman leading with 36%, State Senator Dick Kelsey at 11%, and Pompeo and State Senator Jean Schodorf at 10% each. Both polls were done by SurveyUSA at the request of Channel 12.
Actually, in the new poll, Hartman gained a point from the February poll, from 36% to 37%. But Pompeo gained a whopping 29% percentage points, from 10% in February to
39% now.
While the Pompeo/Hartman race is a statistical dead heat, Pompeo has the momentum now.
I've seen private polling that indicates that the SurveyUsa poll is not terribly accurate. Just from checking over the crosstabs myself, I have trouble believing that less than 10% are undecided at this point in the GOP race, or that Tillman is within reach of Goyle in the Democratic primary. I question the methodolgy -- it looks more like a "push" poll than a real one.
I was surprised about the Democratic side of it, also. I have never heard of Tillman. It's important not to take a primary for granted, as Mr.Rawl did and lost to "Alvin Green." Everybody thought it was the soul singer.
Raj Goyle is a superstar.
Mystery solved, it was a robo-call poll. The ones mostt of us never answer when we see "unavailable" on the caller ID.