I received a phone call on my cell phone a few days ago from an Anchorage number. It was from a woman at a polling company she identified as VR Research or Validity Research. She told me she was in Las Vegas. She asked me if I had 15 minutes to participate in a political poll. I don’t think she knew she was talking to Jeff Landfield.
Below is a summary of the questions I was asked. The open ended questions had a variety of answers like very good, neutral, etc… I paraphrased a lot of the questions because I was trying to write, listen and answer all at the same time.
- How often do you vote?
- Will you vote-by-mail?
- Are you aware this will be the first municipal vote-by mail election?
- Are you more likely to vote at a polling location or vote-by-mail?
- How are things going overall in Anchorage?
- What are your feelings about the following figures and organizations:
- Joe Miller
- Bill Walker
- Lisa Murkowski (she first pronounced it Merkowitz, I told her how to say it correctly)
- Mark Begich
- Dan Sullivan (Mayor)
- Alaska Legislature
- Tony Knowles
- Anchorage Assembly
- Rebecca Logan
- Andrew Halcro (I gave him a super duper A+)
- Ethan Berkowitz
- Donald Trump
- What is the most important issue facing Anchorage?
- Do you approve or disapprove of Mayor Ethan Berkowitz?
- If the mayoral election were held today, who would you vote for?
- Ethan Berkowitz
- Rebecca Logan
- Do you feel strongly or not strongly about your vote?
She then read a positive statement about Rebecca Logan. Basically said crime is up, budget is up, taxes are up. Logan says it is time to stop all of this and elect a new mayor. Said she has oil industry experience and is a conservative.
She then read a positive statement about Ethan Berkowitz. Basically said the first thing he did was hire 100 new cops to target criminals by using community policing. He demanded the Northern Lights Hotel be demolished. He worked to see the Anchorage economy is not to dependent on oil money.
Then asked again, which of the two would you vote for today? And do you feel strongly or not strongly about your vote?
New Set of Questions
- How would you grade the following on a scale from A to F:
- Property taxes
- Snow removal/maintenance
- Police
- Homelessness
- Schools
- Anchorage economy
- Level of crime
- Overall quality of life
- How do the following factors contribute to crime in Anchorage:
- Economy
- Opiod addiction
- Mayor Ethan Berkowitz
- Lax law enforcement
- Sanctuary city policies
- Gangs
- Too few police
- SB91
- Immigration into Anchorage
- How do you feel about the following statements about the candidates:
- Supported by environmental groups
- Supported by unions
- Supported by oil industry executives
- Endorsed by ADN
- Was a criminal prosecutor
- Supported by police and fire emplpyees
- Should Municipal Light and Power sell to Chugach Electric? (she could also not pronounce Chugach, took me a while to teach her that one. She actually asked me how to say it)
- Do you support the bathroom bill?
- Do you support the legal status of marijuana in Anchorage?
- Was SB91 good or bad?
She then read a bunch of positive and negative statements about Ethan. Then asked again how I would vote today. She then read a bunch of positive statements about Rebecca, which were mostly negative things about Ethan’s first term as mayor. One of them was actually “He might feel safe and strong because he does not go out after midnight.” One of them also said Logan is a pastors daughter and never compromises on her beliefs. Then asked one more time, who would I vote for?
She then asked a bunch of demographic questions. When asked who the poll was for she told me she did not know. I asked around to friends in political consulting, no one had heard of VR Research or Validity Research. Whoever is doing the poll, please share the results with me so I can publish in the Landmine!
Also, I have received two more calls since I took the poll from the same company. I told one girl I already took it. Another guy started and was then like, oh sorry we already talked to you and hung up.