Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jun 17
McMorrow Campaign Pressured MIRS to Kill 6% Michigan Senate Poll
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jun 17

McMorrow Campaign Pressured MIRS to Kill 6% Michigan Senate Poll

2 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jun 17

Summary

  • Mitchell Research said the McMorrow campaign pushed MIRS not to publish a Michigan Senate poll that showed her at 6%, which would mark a new low and reinforce her third-place standing.
  • MIRS editor Kyle Melinn confirmed the campaign raised objections and said he shelved the survey after consulting other pollsters, concluding he was not comfortable with the results.
  • McMorrow's campaign denied running a pressure campaign, arguing the poll was fundamentally flawed because an open SurveyMonkey link sent by text could be shared or used multiple times and produced anomalies in Black, Detroit-area and Oakland County responses.
  • Pollster Steve Mitchell acknowledged errors in the memo but defended both the methodology and the findings, saying the survey was properly weighted and comparable to approaches used elsewhere.
  • The dispute lands in a high-stakes Democratic primary for Michigan's open Senate seat, where recent polling has shown Abdul El-Sayed gaining on McMorrow and Haley Stevens amid millions of dollars in outside spending.

Insights

When does a campaign's criticism of a poll cross the line into unethical media pressure?
How can voters verify poll credibility when experts themselves disagree on the methods used?