Who chooses which polls to use?

Feb. 20, 2020

[From Tom Steyers email. The Democratic debate he references was the one last night, Wed., Feb. 19, 2020]

Regardless of the turnout model, Tom earns well over the 12% support threshold put forth by the DNC to make the Nevada debate. Let me be clear; if it were up to the people of Nevada and South Carolina, Tom Steyer would be on the debate stage tonight. Unfortunately, the DNC has rules for this debate that do not allow for any early state polling except one poll in Nevada to count towards the debate qualifying criteria.

Despite the DNC rules, we know that Tom is doing well in Nevada and South Carolina. In the last month there have been six public polls in those states. Tom has been at or above 10% in every one and over 12% in three of them. And Tom’s current polling average on Real Clear Politics is 10.5% in Nevada and 16% in South Carolina, putting him in the top tier of candidates in both states.

One week before the DNC started its polling window for qualification to the Nevada debate, our campaign met the polling criteria in two Fox News polls that showed his campaign at 15% in South Carolina and 12% in Nevada. More recent polls conducted by The Post and Courier and East Carolina University confirmed Tom’s momentum, showing him as a leading candidate with 18% and 19% support respectively. The Post and Courier poll showed Tom earning 24% support amongst black voters, only six points behind first-placed Joe Biden.

While it is certainly frustrating and disappointing that Tom will not be on the stage tonight, we know that Tom is in a good position in the next two states and has the message and organization to compete well beyond that.