Young Calls Foul on Frederick News Post Mayoral Poll

George Wenschhof

Karen Young

Democratic Alderwoman Karen Young, who is running for mayor of The City of Frederick, expressed dismay to me yesterday over the manner a recent poll was conducted by the Frederick News Post (FNP).

 

Democratic Galen Clagett (D) won the poll with 40.9% and Young received 23.5%.

In an email to me Karen said “The FNP poll has been totally contaminated.  I believe that at least one person, if not more, is erasing cookies and voting multiple times.

I did a professional Voter I.D. survey about 10 days ago. The FNP results are WAY off.  My Voter I.D. was done by Chism Strategies and 2055 calls were made."

When I asked her; “who were called and the results”, Young said “Democrats with a voting history. Results had me slightly ahead.”

The online Frederick News Post website conducts daily polls, covering various issues and does not, to my knowledge, vouch for the authenticity of the results.

 

Below, are the results from the FNP poll, challenged by Young.

 

"Now that all the candidates have filed, who would you vote for to be Frederick's next mayor?"

Total Votes: 1232

16.2%

Shelley Aloi 56 - 4.5%

Carol Hirsch 90 - .7%

Jeff Holtzinger 65 - 5.3%

Randy McClement 199 - 16.2%

Galen Clagett 504 - 40.9%

Karen Young 290 - 23.5%

Jennifer Dougherty 64 - 5.2%

None of the above 45 - 3.7%

Young also forwarded me an email she sent to FNP city reporter Jen Bondeson, where she said, in part, "While I recognize that your poll is informal, it is also misleading. The danger is that the results are being used to predict outcome. This is an inappropriate use of information that is more the result of "working the poll" rather than obtaining findings from a scientific measurement."

The City of Frederick conducts a closed primary election where voters of a registered party elect their candidate(s) to move on to the general election, when all registered voters take part.  

This year, on September 10, for mayor, Democratic registered voters will choose between Galen Clagett, Karen Young and Carol Hirsch.  Republican registered voters will choose between incumbent Randy McClement, Jeff Holtzinger and Shelley Aloi.

Republican and Democratic registered voters will also vote on September 10 to determine five aldermen who will move on to the general election. 

On general election day, held on November 5, all registered voters will choose between the winner of the Republican and Democratic mayoral primaries along with unaffiliated candidate Jennifer Dougherty, who does not face a primary.

Also, on Novemeber 5, all registered voters will choose five aldermen between the five Republican and five Democratic candidates who won their respective primaries.

Earlier, alderwoman Young complained of what she called a negative push-poll conducted by Galen Clagett, that she said made her look bad.

Both the Republican and Democratic mayoral/aldermen primaries promise to be hotly contested.

Stay tuned.

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