Poll: Comstock leads GOP field … or does she?

By Kenric Ward | Watchdog.org Virginia Bureau

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A new poll showing Barbara Comstock leading the GOP race to succeed Rep. Frank Wolf has raised more questions than answers.

The survey was conducted by The Polling Company Inc./Women Trend, headed by longtime Comstock friend Kellyanne Conway.

The poll of 402 voters in Northern Virginia’s 10^th Congressional District gave Comstock a 57 percent favorable rating. That was more than double the next candidate, fellow state Delegate Bob Marshall.

Inexplicably, the survey reported that 40 percent of self-identified “conservatives” did not know Marshall, a veteran lawmaker from Manassas and one of the most outspoken conservatives in the General Assembly.

Also undercutting the poll’s credibility: Poll sponsor Citizens United has contributed $10,000 to Comstock’s congressional campaign.

“It’s no surprise that Comstock’s friends will do anything to make her look good, including colluding on a poll that favors her,” said Rob Wasinger, one of the Republican candidates in the CD10 field.

Wasinger said Comstock, who has participated in only one candidate forum, should “drop out of the race … and seek the Democrat nomination instead.”

“They want another career politician and lobbyist who would rather continue to curry favor to special interests than face the reality of our nation’s debt and spending problem,” Wasinger said.

Howie Lind, another candidate in the crowded GOP field, said, “The main thing about this ‘poll’ is that Citizens United is, and has been, totally in the bag for Comstock.”

The poll was conducted April 4-5, and has a 4.9 percent margin of error.

Republicans will select their nominee in a series of firehouse primaries April 26.

Kenric Ward is a national reporter for Watchdog.org and chief of the Virginia Bureau. Contact him at kenric@watchdogvirginia.org or at (571) 319-9824. @Kenricward