The Salt Lake Tribune had to do what no media outlet wants to do: admit that it is wrong. But when their poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon, showed wildly differing results than other polls for the races for Salt Lake County Mayor and the 4th Congressional District, they took the high road and revised their polling. Two of the conflicting polls were our own internal polling and polling conducted by Dan Jones & Associates.
The Tribune’s Robert Gerhke was the first to note the striking inconsistencies in the Tribune’s polling methods.
On Sunday, the Democratic-leaning Alliance For A Better Utah added to the mix, releasing results of a poll it had completed Thursday, showing McAdams up 3.3 percent and Matheson down 4.7 percent — nearly mirroring the Dan Jones numbers.
The Alliance For A Better Utah poll drew on a heavy GOP sample — 56 percent Republicans, 32 percent independents and 10 percent Democrats — in order to mirror a year where, like 2012, high Republican turnout is expected.
“No matter what you may think, and no matter what any given poll says, every vote matters,” Maryann Martindale, executive director of the Alliance for a Better Utah, said in a statement. “This election season has seen nearly as many political polls as political ads, with just as much variety.”
Mike Gorrell followed up on Monday with a full retraction of the earlier poll results.
Maryann Martindale, executive director of the liberal Alliance for a Better Utah, chided The Tribune for its “unfortunate decision to announce methodologically flawed poll results” but applauded the decision to publish the revised numbers.
And don’t forget Pat Bagley’s take on the whole issue.
