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Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.19.2006
Democratic congressional candidate Patty Weiss said Friday that she may file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission because of a recent push poll that inaccurately links her and her family to the pharmaceutical industry.
Weiss, who is running in District 8, said her campaign headquarters has been flooded with "dozens and dozens" of calls since the poll began. The poll allegedly asks respondents if they would still vote for Weiss if they knew she had received large amounts of funding from pharmaceutical companies. Another question allegedly suggests her husband, Dr. Alan J. Gelenberg, head of the University of Arizona's Department of Psychiatry, has deep connections with pharmaceutical companies.
Both questions are inaccurate, Weiss said.
"As far as we know they are calling the entire district," she said.
District 8 covers much of Tucson, spanning north to Marana, east to the New Mexico line and south to the U.S.-Mexican border.
A check of Weiss' campaign contributions revealed only one donation directly linked to a pharmaceutical company. It was for $2,000 from Philip Satow, of JDS Pharmaceuticals.
It's unclear who is behind the tactic. The calls trace back to Mountain West Research Center, a marketing and research firm based in Idaho, Weiss said. That company is run by Western Wats, a data-collection firm in Orem, Utah.
Western Wats did not respond to several messages.
Jesse Reinhold of Mountain West Research Center said he could neither confirm nor deny if the firm was making the calls, citing private contracts.
No matter who is making them, the calls have become something of a political maelstrom.
Not only do the calls allegedly make links between Weiss and the pharmaceutical industry, but they also are said to be highly supportive of one of her main competitors, Gabrielle Giffords.
Such support initially had Weiss and her campaign officials suspecting Giffords, but Weiss has since said she does not think Giffords is connected.
Officials with Giffords' campaign also insisted they had nothing to do with the calls.
"We don't do push polls," said Rodd McLeod, campaign manager for Giffords. "We haven't done one. We're not doing one."
Weiss and others are now looking at the National Republican Congressional Committee as the source of the calls, which state and national Republican officials deny.
At Friday's press conference, Weiss noted Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, who is running in New York's 20th District, has also recently been the victim of push polls.
The Albany Times Union reported Friday that the Gillibrand push calls were also being made by Western Wats and had been commissioned by The Tarrance Group, a national Republican polling firm that often works for the NRCC.
According to records, the NRCC has paid the Tarrance Group $391,087 this election.
Weiss' campaign officials said they were in the process of contacting the NRCC.
However, NRCC spokesman Jonathan Collegio said he was not aware of any NRCC polling.
Many local Democratic officials said they are skeptical another Democrat is involved in the calls and suggested the calls mark the start of serious politics.
"This sows dissent" between Democrats, said Paul Eckerstrom, former Pima County Democratic Party chairman. "This is politics at its worst and basest. This is just the start; wait for the general election."
● Contact reporter Josh Brodesky at 434-4086 or jbrodesky@azstarnet.com.
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