Posted on 05/18/2006 5:44:38 PM PDT by catholicfreeper
HONOLULU -- Rep. Ed Case's senatorial campaign released selected results of one of its polls on Tuesday, which show Case virtually tied with fellow Democrat Sen. Dan Akaka in the race for the U.S. Senate.
It is the first poll to be made public since Case announced he was challenging Akaka in January.
A research firm hired by Case's campaign carried out the poll, and he released only portions of the data.
The poll taken by the Honolulu firm Q-Mark Research and Polling found the race between Akaka and Case is very close four months away from the primary election.
Case's campaign said the survey asked 700 likely voters between April 21 and May 9 who they would vote for if the Senate election was held today.
Forty percent of the respondents said they would vote for Akaka, 38 percent said they would choose Case, while 22 percent either didn't know or refused to answer. The margin of error was 3.7 percent.
"It puts Sen. Akaka in a much weaker position than I think lots of people thought he would be in at this stage, and certainly lots of people thought he would ever be in at the beginning of this campaign," University of Hawaii political science professor Neal Milner said.
"It was reflective of what I've heard from many people throughout Hawaii over the last couple of months as I've gone out there and campaigned," Case said.
The same potential voters were then asked questions highlighting the principal themes of the Case campaign -- about experience, transition, performance and change, and then again asked whom they'd vote for. This time Case came out slightly ahead with 44 percent of the responses compared to Akaka's 39 percent.
Case refused to release the wording of the questions or a breakdown of all the poll's results.
"I'm not going to be providing the further details beyond the result. It's, you know, campaign information, we're in the middle of a campaign and I'm sure it's information that the opposition would love to have as well," Case said.
The Akaka campaign said it has also been polling, but declined to release its results.
"(Case's) poll results indicate we have a contested primary," spokeswoman Elisa Yadao said.
She said the Akaka campaign is "...confident that when people look at Sen. Akaka's record of accomplishments and his position on issues they're going to make the right choice."
It appears that Case is only giving out the poll results that make him look good. For example, he wouldn't tell KITV the results for voters who are likely to vote in the Democratic primary, which is the race they're in. So the results he released include Republican voters, many who will not vote in the Democratic primary in September.
Previous Stories: January 20, 2006: Akaka 'Disappointed' By Case's Run For Senate January 20, 2006: Some Hawaii Democrats Angered By Case's Decision January 20, 2006: Case Will Challenge Akaka For Senate Seat
Oh HIS poll says he is tied....
Republicans need to find a strong candidate to run. Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou would be a good choice.
I have to Take an Akaka.........
What about the Dog ???
I was in Hawaii recently and the newspapers I read made me think that this very blue state may be trending slightly Republican. There seemed to be some genuine lingering resentment against the States Courts for their activist stances in recent years. Don't know if the republicans are running a strong candidate, but I hope they are.
They made a point of saying that it was run by Case's campaign and that he would not release the questions asked.
Probably something like, "If Sen. Akaka up and died today would you vote for Case?" and they said "OK" and they took that as a vote for Case.
I can't imagine that The Dog would run. Chances are, his background would put his candidacy to sleep.
By the way, you have a great tagline.
who is the "dog"?
known for yelping and whimpering...
Maybe Senator Inoye should give Akaka a hand.
Good gosh, I hope the Republican field is not that light. lol.
If Akaka is showing any weakness, it's probably rats who realize that there's the possibility of the very ancient Akaka not making it through his next term, allowing Lingle to appoint a GOP replacement. Case, on the other hand, is much younger.
From what I can read at Hawaii political sites no one had yet declared to be a candidate for the Senate primary. The Repubs may have a better chance in an open House seat vacated by Congressman Case who has chosen to run in the Democrat primary against Senator Akaka.
No, it can't be a Repub pickup.
But hell, I just hope they tap lots of D doners to fight it out in the primary.
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