Released: Oct 16, 2012 2:33 PM

Ruiz Nears Upset in Coachella Valley Due to Grassroots Effort

Burlington, VT – Today, Democracy for America (DFA) released a new poll indicating that Raul Ruiz, a Dean Dozen candidate running for Congress in California’s 36th Congressional District, is leading Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack in a second consecutive poll. Yesterday, the Ruiz campaign released a poll from Lake Research Partners that showed Ruiz up by 3 points.

Both polls indicate that Ruiz’s campaign has the momentum moving into the final weeks before the election. This is the first time in her career that Republican Bono Mack has been down in the polls, proving that grassroots support is strengthening the Ruiz campaign.

“Time and again, grassroots support – what’s commonly referred to as people power, trumps special interests,” Jim Dean, Chair of Democracy for America said. “We’re exceptionally happy grassroots support turned this race upside down in favor of a candidate who won’t run away from the tough decisions. We’re backing a candidate who made a firm commitment to voters – he’ll support Medicare, Social Security, and will work to provide healthcare to all. This race is far from over, Republicans won’t back away from the district – they will double down for a candidate who is little more than a rubber stamp for the party. Those of us who believe in a true grassroots hero must step-up and elect the only true voice from the Coachella Valley, Dr. Raul Ruiz.”

The second poll, commissioned by Democracy for America and conducted by Public Policy Polling shows Raul Ruiz up by 1 point – a four point swing in his direction from a previous DFA/PPP poll in September. In the same period, Ruiz’s favorability continued to grow as voters learned more about the candidate and his positions. In the 36th District, 42% of voters view Ruiz favorably, which is a gain of 7 points from the September poll and 13 points since the August poll. Only 7% of voters remain unsure of whom they would support if the election were held today, while 87% of those polled are firmly committed in their choice

The polling was conducted October 12th and 14th and is considered a strong indicator at how the 36th Congressional District will vote on November 6th. The polling was paid for by Democracy for America and surveyed 1,364 likely voters in California’s 36th District with a margin of error of 2.65%. DFA also commissioned polling for this district in August and September. Those details can be found here: http://bit.ly/TZEOcl.

The Dean Dozen is DFA's highest tier of federal endorsement. It is limited to 12 total candidates running for either US House or US Senate and represents the races that DFA will expend the greatest amount of resources on during the 2012 cycle. Each Dean Dozen endorsed candidate receives a cross endorsement from DFA founder, Governor Howard Dean, a commitment to raise an additional $20,000 dollars in small donations from DFA's national membership, a contribution of $5,000 in financial and in-kind support from DFA's PAC over the course of the campaign, on-the-ground organizing support from DFA's regional field organizers, and priority in the DFA dialer, a call-out-the-vote tool where DFA members make tens of thousands of calls to voters on a given day. To date, DFA members have given over $34,000 to elect Raul Ruiz.

A Link to the polling can be found here: http://bit.ly/S1OKiS.

A memo from Public Policy Polling regarding these polling numbers can be found here: http://bit.ly/Qq4VFg

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ABOUT DEMOCRACY FOR AMERICA
Democracy for America is the people-powered Democratic Political Action Committee. With over one million members nationwide, DFA is a grassroots powerhouse working to change our country and the Democratic Party from the bottom-up.

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/press/2997-mary-bono-mack-down-in-second-straight-poll