Survey: 59 Percent Say Scott McInnis Should Quit Governors’ Race

Update, 12:30 PM: Scott McInnis provides an official response to Hasan Family Foundation. Scroll down to the bottom of this post.

As promised, the survey on what Scott McInnis should do closed at 9:00 this morning. In all, there were 177 participants — including 173 registered voters, 93 percent of whom identify as Republicans and 7 percent of whom identify either as unaffiliated or third party (no Democrats participated). A brief summary of the survey results:

• 105 of 177 participants (59 percent) said McInnis should step down from the race, 42 (24 percent) said he should stay in the race and work it out and 30 (17 percent) said it’s too early to tell
• Asked which candidate they were inclined to support before the plagiarism story broke, 79 favored McInnis (45 percent), 62 favored GOP rival Dan Maes (35 percent), 6 favored Democrat John Hickenlooper (3 percent), and 28 opted for “Other/Undecided” (16 percent)
• Asked which candidate they now support after the story broke, 84 support Dan Maes (48 percent), 40 back McInnis (23 percent), 13 back Hickenlooper (8 percent), and 37 declare for “Other/Undecided” (21 percent)
• Asked which of three scenarios they think is most likely at this point, 78 said McInnis will lose the primary to Maes (45 percent), 54 said McInnis will win the primary but face certain defeat to Hickenlooper (31 percent) and only 41 said McInnis will win the primary and remain competitive in the general election (24 percent)

I will let the results speak for themselves. You can download an Excel spreadsheet of the summary results here. Let’s hope the McInnis camp is paying attention, but I’m not holding my breath. Anyway, they’re more likely to take heed of a professional pollster’s results on the question, as state party chair Dick Wadhams mentioned to Mike Rosen a little while ago that he believed Rasmussen was conducting a poll. And we all know that Rasmussen is a “heck of a bigger deal” than yours truly.

In any case, Scott McInnis has stated at least for now he plans to stay in the race and make things right with the Hasan Foundation, whose $300,000 project on water issues has been at the heart of the story. Among others, Ari Armstrong has speculated and commented on how McInnis plans to fix the situation.

Well, a new press release this morning from the Hasan Foundation identifies the terms it demands for restoration:

It is the finding of the Hasan Family Foundation Board that the work Congressman Scott McInnis performed under the Senior Fellowship was only a fraction of the work he was obligated to perform under the terms of his Fellowship. Of the little work that he did, he has admitted it was neither fully completed by him, nor fully original. In view of the public disclosure by Mr. McInnis as well as by Mr. Rolly Fischer, it is clear that Mr. McInnis has not fulfilled the terms of our agreement, and there is no need for any further investigation by the Foundation.

The Foundation demands he repay all monies paid to him under the Fellowship. The Foundation shall be making no further comment on the matter and will immediately return its full attention to the worthy causes it proudly funds and oversees.

McInnis responds:

I have said since this matter was brought to my attention that the articles provided as part of the Hasan Family Foundation fellowship were faulty. I explained how this problem arose, and I accepted responsibility.

I apologized to the Hasans for this mistake, and I expressed my determination to make it right with my dear friends. I will be in contact with the Hasan family to make full payment arrangements. I agree with the Foundation that this brings this matter to a close, and I look forward to continuing to speak on the campaign trail about the critical issues facing all of Colorado, including jobs and economic recovery.

Meanwhile, Dan Maes has a lot of questions to answer clearly before enough Republicans can trust him as their general election candidate. And given the fact so many questions remain unanswered after this long on the campaign trail, I believe we need to look beyond Maes and McInnis for another candidate. The conversations have already begun.

Recommended reading:
-David Harsanyi’s July 15 Denver Post column, “Oops, the GOP did it again”
-Rossputin, “So complicated I need a flow chart”