Dispatch - With release of poll, Ney's camp admits troubles

A poll announced yesterday by Rep. Bob Ney’s campaign is notable for its candor in acknowledging the problems the Heath Republican faces. Ney, who remains embroiled in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, is running for re-election against Democrat Zack Space.

The poll shows Ney up by just 4 percentage points over the little-known Dover city attorney. Still, Ney pollster Glen Bolger says that’s a big improvement from January, when the congressman trailed Space by double digits. That same month, Abramoff pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges.

"There’s no doubt this race will be a challenge," Bolger said in a statement. "Bob Ney is squarely in the sights of the national Democrats, and they will pull out the stops to defeat him. That being said, Bob Ney is still in this race."

That’s a less-than-glowing assessment from a candidate’s pollster. Ney’s campaign spokeswoman said she would let Bolger’s statement speak for itself and would not share the questions or other results from the survey.

Meanwhile, Space is promoting his own internal poll that shows the Democrat with a lead of 11 percentage points during roughly the same period in late June when Ney’s poll was taken.

— Jonathan Riskind

jriskind@dispatch.com