Exit polling

By: Ed Jacovino

Posted: 8/27/08

After 24 years of polling for local candidates on campus, Syracuse University political professor Jeffrey Stonecash will no longer be able to rent university property for his personal polling operation.

Stonecash, best known as the pollster for Republican Rep. Jim Walsh, was asked in June to stop renting out SU phone banks to conduct the polls. Stonecash and the university reached the agreement after an apparent complaint from the campaign of Democratic congressional candidate Dan Maffei, Stonecash said.

Stonecash, a registered Democrat, teaches a campaign analysis course that includes a unit on polling and had students create, conduct and analyze a mock poll. But students likely won't be polling this semester, he said. A section on polling remains on the class syllabus, though.

As a pollster, local candidates hired the professor on their side. He rented out a university phone bank and advertised the work to students, who he paid $12.50 per hour.

"All costs are reimbursed," Stonecash said. "There's no contribution by the university, except for the use of the phones, which is by no means trivial."

He added there is no conflict of interest in hiring students taking his course.

"This is a work relationship," he said. "I've always made it clear to them there is no break for that."

Stonecash would not say whether he will find another phone bank and continue his polling business. He has taught at SU for 31 years and has been polling for the last 24 years.

But after a surprising result in a poll he conducted in April for Republican congressional candidate Dale Sweetland, his Democratic opponent's campaign made an informal complaint to the university.

A spokesman for the Maffei campaign said he raised concern about Stonecash "using university resources for private gain" and using the "good name of the university to promote a partisan operation," according to The Post-Standard. The Maffei campaign did not return a request to comment.

Part of the debate also centered on the fact the polling calls from the SU phone bank would register "Syracuse University" on the incoming caller I.D. The callers were instructed to say the poll was not affiliated with the university if the person on the other end of the line asked, Stonecash said.

The professor said an important part of polling is that the participants don't know the organization conducting the poll because it could skew the results.

Stonecash's poll showed a tie at 36.1 percent between Sweetland and Maffei.

In 2006, Maffei nearly unseated Walsh, who has held Syracuse's congressional seat since 1988. In 2006, Walsh won 51 percent to Maffei's 49 percent.

"Although he was doing nothing illegal, all parties want to ensure that any future activities are beyond question," said SU spokesman Kevin Quinn of Stonecash in an e-mail. "Despite this mutual decision, professor Stonecash may continue to engage Maxwell students in non-partisan, public interest polling as part of their education at Syracuse and we hope he will consider doing that."

In response to the complaint, SU is currently evaluating its definition of participant activity, Stonecash said.

Though the university and Stonecash agreed to stop polling, both maintained the professor was not playing party politics.

"In the past, professor Stonecash had done political polling for candidates on both sides of the aisle," Quinn said.

Stonecash is scheduled to speak about the current presidential race at the Westcott Community Center Oct. 2.

ejjacovi@syr.edu