The campaign of Republican congressional candidate Patrick Murray is claiming an advantage among independent voters — a claim his opponent’s campaign is vigorously disputing.
Murray is facing off against incumbent Rep. Jim Moran (D) in the Nov. 6 general election. The race will be a rematch of the 2010 race, in which Moran defeated Murray by a 24 point margin.
This time around, the Murray camp says they hold a convincing advantage among independent voters. In an email to supporters this week, the campaign said Murray holds an “astonishing” 26 point margin advantage against Moran among independent voters in Virginia’s Eighth District.
“The information we emailed out was based on thousands of phone calls the campaign has made to independent voters,” Murray spokesman Reece Collins told ARLnow.com. “From those who have responded to the survey, Patrick is ahead by a margin of 58 percent to 32 percent with 10 percent saying that they are undecided.”
“The results show that these swing voters are unhappy with the current Congressman and his hyper-partisan approach,” Collins continued. “Conversely, Patrick’s message of creating jobs and responsible government is clearly resonating.”
The Moran campaign, however, questioned the method by which the poll numbers were generated.
“Unless they have an actual firm willing to stand by the numbers and share methodology, they’re just making it up,” said Moran spokesman Austin Durrer. “Moran just won his primary… in a deep blue seat, one that Murray couldn’t come within 22 points of Jim in the worst year for Democrats in electoral history. In 2012, with the President and Tim Kaine at the top of the ticket, that challenge is even steeper.”
Moran defeated Democratic primary challenger Bruce Shuttleworth by a 48 point margin on Tuesday. Murray did not have a Republican primary opponent.