The Des Moines Register and CNN announced Saturday night that they would not release their crucial Iowa poll, citing an error in which one candidate’s name was left out of polling questions.
Jonathan Martin of the New York Times tweeted that the candidate who was left out was former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg:
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News: The @DMRegister is weighing whether to release their @jaselzer poll as planned tonight after @PeteButtigieg camp complained that his name was left off at least one survey questionnaire https://t.co/9dNNMrtUmc
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) February 2, 2020
Pundits had been eagerly anticipating the release of what Politico called “the most consequential poll in politics,” as it reflects expectations of the outcome of the first contest of the presidential primary, to be held Monday..
But it was not to be.
A statement on the Des Moines Register website read, in part:
The Des Moines Register, CNN and Selzer & Co. have made the decision to not release the final installment of the CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll as planned this evening.
Nothing is more important to the Register and its polling partners than the integrity of the Iowa Poll. Today, a respondent raised an issue with the way the survey was administered, which could have compromised the results of the poll. It appears a candidate’s name was omitted in at least one interview in which the respondent was asked to name their preferred candidate.
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Dem AG pulls off upset of sitting Republican governor after blistering campaign in key swing state
Abdul el Sayed defeats Mike Rogers in Michigan race, poised to become first Muslim senator
Thune plans to run for Republican minority leader after Dem’s midterm takeover
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Breaking: Democrats Flip Senate Seat in State Trump Won by Double Digits
Mamdani-Backed Democratic Socialist Wins House Seat
Democrats Win Texas Governor’s Race for First Time in 30 Years as Gina Hinojosa Defeats Greg Abbott
Breaking: Democrats Deal Massive Blow to Republicans, Win Control of the Senate
Breaking: Democrats Flip Red House District, Unseat Rep. Victoria Spartz
Breaking: Vivek Ramaswamy Suffers Painful Loss to Amy Acton in Ohio Governor’s Race
Democrat Gina Hinojosa stuns Abbott, makes history as first Latina Texas governor
Trump’s gamble on Ken Paxton backfires as Democrat pulls off historic Texas Senate upset
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Teen previously convicted in shooting accused of killing pregnant mom of 4 inside Spirit Halloween
While this appears to be isolated to one surveyor, we cannot confirm that with certainty. Therefore, the partners made the difficult decision to not to move forward with releasing the Iowa Poll.
CNN also had to cancel an hour of news programming that had been planned around the poll.
Politico reported: “Underscoring the attention paid to the poll, CNN had planned an hourlong TV program around its release. Instead, at 9 p.m. Eastern, the network’s political director, David Chalian, went on the air to explain why the poll wasn’t being issued.”
The stunning, last-minute decision, 48 hours before the Iowa caucuses are to be held, raised suspicions that the poll must have held bad news for one of the major frontrunners.
In 2016, supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) accused the Democratic Party of rigging the result for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after she won by a narrow margin in which some delegates were awarded to her by coin toss, and another was mysteriously switched to Clinton from Sanders.
Story cited here.
