Jones releases full poll under Board of Elections’ pressure
Under pressure from the state Board of Elections, Democratic Assembly candidate Billy Jones released the full contents of an August poll to the board’s top enforcement lawyer Wednesday afternoon.
The poll was paid for and commissioned by the group Friends of Billy Jones, and over the past month, it has ignited public bickering between the campaigns of Jones and Kevin Mulverhill, his Republican opponent for the state 115th Assembly District seat that Republican Janet Duprey will vacate at the end of the year.
The squabble has been about whether the poll violated the state’s Fair Campaign Code practices, as Mulverhill charges the poll misled voters through slanted questioning. The Jones campaign maintains there was nothing misleading about the poll and that Mulverhill’s criticisms are a distraction from the race. Jones said in a press release Wednesday that Mulverhill’s claim that the poll was skewed “couldn’t be further from the truth.”
The poll was a phone survey of 400 voters in the district between Aug. 11 and 14. It showed 47 percent of respondents supported Jones or leaned toward him compared to 38 percent for Mulverhill. The poll was conducted by Kiley and Company of Boston.
Board of Elections Chief Enforcement Counsel Risa Sugarman said she had asked the Jones campaign for the full poll late last month.
On Sept. 1, Friends of Billy Jones filed portions of the poll with the Board of Elections to meet mandatory requirements, including the results of the poll and “the exact wording of the questions asked in the poll and the sequence of such questions.” The group disclosed seven questions and their results, but the question numbering went up to 208.
On Tuesday, Board of Elections commissioners voted 3-to-1 to subpoena the Jones campaign for the full poll. The motion, made by Republican commissioner Gregory Peterson, stipulated that the full poll be given directly to Sugarman for review in private.
The motion was seconded by the board’s GOP co-chair, Peter Kosinski. Democratic commissioner Andrew Spano also voted in favor. Democratic co-chair Douglas Kellner voted against.
Spano, who was Westchester County executive for 12 years, said the board had a long discussion at its last meeting in an executive session about how to be fair to the Jones and Mulverhill campaigns.
“When (Sugarman) asked for this, the process was discussed – it’s open,” Spano said in the public part of Tuesday’s meeting, which was video-recorded and posted to YouTube. “(The Jones campaign) was told what the process is. They are saying to the board, ‘We don’t trust you.’ That’s basically what they are saying, and I don’t like that.”
Peterson was even more critical of the Jones campaign.
“I had figured once our enforcement counsel writes another strong letter saying, ‘Hey, we are going after you if you don’t do this,’ bingo! They fold their cards up,” Peterson said. “That didn’t happen. We got another volume, a litany of legality coming back saying, ‘You should do this, and do that, and by the way, this is what it says, and we interpret it this way.’ You know what? Nonsense. You were asked something, you were asked twice – is it three times now? Three times, yeah. You know what? Three strikes, you’re out.
“I want to get tough,” he continued. “The bottom line is, we asked you for something. You haven’t given it. Whatever it takes to do that and protect the integrity of this board, I say, let’s do it.”
Kellner expressed concern over whether the Board of Elections had been clear enough with the Jones campaign about procedure for disclosing the full poll and whether the law clearly articulated that the full poll needs to be provided.
In his press release Wednesday night, Jones said the situation surrounding the poll had “gotten completely out of hand.” Both Sugarman and a representative for Jones’ campaign said Thursday that a subpoena ordering the release of the full poll hadn’t been served because Jones provided it Wednesday afternoon.
“I’ve said from the start that I’d release it once the state Board of Elections clarified the process,” Jones said in the release. “At this point, Mr. Mulverhill’s claim is blatantly false. There has been no subpoena served. Further, I have provided Ms. Sugarman the poll and sincerely hope this is the end of it.
“(Mulverhill’s) spewing misinformation because he’s scared – he knows North Country families are behind me and supporting me because I’ll get results for them,” Jones added.
In late August, the Press-Republican newspaper was sent a copy of the poll results from a party it identified as “supporters” of Jones’ campaign. At the time, the Plattsburgh-based paper said Jones would not confirm or deny whether he had commissioned the poll.
Mulverhill dubbed the 3-1 vote to subpoena Jones as an “unprecedented, bipartisan” move, according to a press release his campaign spokesperson issued Wednesday.
“Releasing the entire poll provides voters the opportunity to objectively see how this race is progressing,” Mulverhill said in the release. “Releasing a small handful of questions like my opponent did provides him the opportunity to mislead and make false claims to the press and voters.”
Jones is the chairman of the Franklin County Board of Legislators and a former mayor of Chateaugay. Mulverhill is a Malone resident, a Franklin County sheriff and a retired state trooper.
Jones releases full poll under Board of Elections pressure
Under pressure from the state Board of Elections, Democratic Assembly candidate Billy Jones released the full contents of an August poll to the board’s top enforcement lawyer Wednesday afternoon.
The poll was paid for and commissioned by the group Friends of Billy Jones, and over the past month, it has ignited public bickering between the campaigns of Jones and Kevin Mulverhill, his Republican opponent for the state 115th Assembly District seat that Republican Janet Duprey will vacate at the end of the year.
The squabble has been about whether the poll violated the state’s Fair Campaign Code practices, as Mulverhill charges the poll misled voters through slanted questioning. The Jones campaign maintains there was nothing misleading about the poll and that Mulverhill’s criticisms are a distraction from the race. Jones said in a press release Wednesday that Mulverhill’s claim that the poll was skewed “couldn’t be further from the truth.”
The poll was a phone survey of 400 voters in the district between Aug. 11 and 14. It showed 47 percent of respondents supported Jones or leaned toward him compared to 38 percent for Mulverhill. The poll was conducted by Kiley and Company of Boston.
Board of Elections Chief Enforcement Counsel Risa Sugarman said she had asked the Jones campaign for the full poll late last month.
On Sept. 1, Friends of Billy Jones filed portions of the poll with the Board of Elections to meet mandatory requirements, including the results of the poll and “the exact wording of the questions asked in the poll and the sequence of such questions.” The group disclosed seven questions and their results, but the question numbering went up to 208.
On Tuesday, Board of Elections commissioners voted 3-to-1 to subpoena the Jones campaign for the full poll. The motion, made by Republican commissioner Gregory Peterson, stipulated that the full poll be given directly to Sugarman for review in private.
The motion was seconded by the board’s GOP co-chair, Peter Kosinski. Democratic commissioner Andrew Spano also voted in favor. Democratic co-chair Douglas Kellner voted against.
Spano, who was Westchester County executive for 12 years, said the board had a long discussion at its last meeting in an executive session about how to be fair to the Jones and Mulverhill campaigns.
“When (Sugarman) asked for this, the process was discussed – it’s open,” Spano said in the public part of Tuesday’s meeting, which was video-recorded and posted to YouTube. “(The Jones campaign) was told what the process is. They are saying to the board, ‘We don’t trust you.’ That’s basically what they are saying, and I don’t like that.”
Peterson was even more critical of the Jones campaign.
“I had figured once our enforcement counsel writes another strong letter saying, ‘Hey, we are going after you if you don’t do this,’ bingo! They fold their cards up,” Peterson said. “That didn’t happen. We got another volume, a litany of legality coming back saying, ‘You should do this, and do that, and by the way, this is what it says, and we interpret it this way.’ You know what? Nonsense. You were asked something, you were asked twice – is it three times now? Three times, yeah. You know what? Three strikes, you’re out.
“I want to get tough,” he continued. “The bottom line is, we asked you for something. You haven’t given it. Whatever it takes to do that and protect the integrity of this board, I say, let’s do it.”
Kellner expressed concern over whether the Board of Elections had been clear enough with the Jones campaign about procedure for disclosing the full poll and whether the law clearly articulated that the full poll needs to be provided.
In his press release Wednesday night, Jones said the situation surrounding the poll had “gotten completely out of hand.” Both Sugarman and a representative for Jones’ campaign said Thursday that a subpoena ordering the release of the full poll hadn’t been served because Jones provided it Wednesday afternoon.
“I’ve said from the start that I’d release it once the state Board of Elections clarified the process,” Jones said in the release. “At this point, Mr. Mulverhill’s claim is blatantly false. There has been no subpoena served. Further, I have provided Ms. Sugarman the poll and sincerely hope this is the end of it.
“(Mulverhill’s) spewing misinformation because he’s scared – he knows North Country families are behind me and supporting me because I’ll get results for them,” Jones added.
In late August, the Press-Republican newspaper was sent a copy of the poll results from a party it identified as “supporters” of Jones’ campaign. At the time, the Plattsburgh-based paper said Jones would not confirm or deny whether he had commissioned the poll.
Mulverhill dubbed the 3-1 vote to subpoena Jones as an “unprecedented, bipartisan” move, according to a press release his campaign spokesperson issued Wednesday.
“Releasing the entire poll provides voters the opportunity to objectively see how this race is progressing,” Mulverhill said in the release. “Releasing a small handful of questions like my opponent did provides him the opportunity to mislead and make false claims to the press and voters.”
Jones is the chairman of the Franklin County Board of Legislators and a former mayor of Chateaugay. Mulverhill is a Malone resident, a Franklin County sheriff and a retired state trooper.
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