Sham survey: Gravis Marketing’s Jacksonville mayoral race poll a fraud
Sham: A new poll supposedly linked to Garvis Marketing gave brief hope to Republican mayoral candidate Anna Brosche. But it was found to be a sham.

broche curry
Gravis Marketing's president said the company has not polled for anyone in Jacksonville.

A Gravis Marketing poll of the Jacksonville mayoral race has been floating around for about a week.

In it, incumbent Mayor Lenny Curry leads challenger Anna Brosche 50-25 percent, with the also-rans splitting the balance.

The poll was heralded among Brosche’s supporters as a ray of hope — Curry was at, not over, the 50 percent mark, so if Brosche could add a bit of support in the run-up to Election Day, she could force a head-to-head rematch in a run-off election.

That’s sound logic, but there’s one flaw: the poll is a hoax.

After reading the executive summary, complete with Gravis Marketing’s logo, Florida Politics reached out to Gravis and asked for more details.

The response: “What poll?”

Gravis Marketing president Doug Kaplan said his company has not polled for anyone — public or private — in Jacksonville this year.

“According to the poll this was conducted in the last few weeks,” he said. “It’s not us.”

So, whodunnit?

Brosche supporters certainly have a reason to dig deep for some momentum, and the poll was circulated by those her cadre.

But that begs the question of why anyone would produce a fake poll showing themselves down 25 points. If you’re just making a few pie charts in Word, why not a 15-point deficit?

Also, why put the other two candidates, Omega Allen and Jimmy Hill, in a tie? If the goal is to boost Brosche, showing one of them in a clear fourth place could cause voters to flock toward their No. 2 pick. Likewise, putting the trio of challengers in close contention would make Curry look even more dominant.

The people and the motivations behind the fake poll likely won’t be unearthed until long after the Mar. 19 election.

Even so, Kaplan told Florida Politics that Attorney General Ashley Moody can expect him to forward along a formal complaint in the coming days.

Peter Schorsch

Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises Media and is the publisher of FloridaPolitics.com, INFLUENCE Magazine, and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. Previous to his publishing efforts, Peter was a political consultant to dozens of congressional and state campaigns, as well as several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella. Follow Peter on Twitter @PeterSchorschFL.


3 comments

  • Seber Newsome III

    March 16, 2019 at 5:21 am

    Princess Anna and her supporters are so dishonest. They will stop at nothing to get her elected. She obviously supports this tactic, because she is desperate. Her time is over for the next 4 years in politics. And if she ever thinks the Republican Party will ever support her again, she is wrong. Goodbye and good riddance Princess Anna.

  • Carlos

    March 16, 2019 at 1:01 pm

    Anyone is better than Queen Lenny 👸

  • Peter

    March 17, 2019 at 11:10 pm

    I have to agree anyone would be better than Queen Lenny. The republican party will support anyone who can bring in the donors. They live for corporation and lobbying money so you cannot just count someone out if they are down in the polls after all everyone loves the underdog.

Comments are closed.


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