By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Wednesday, August 31, 2017, State Representative Barry Moore’s, R-Enterprise, congressional campaign released results of a poll, by WPA Intelligence, outlining what they claim is the vulnerability of incumbent Representative Martha Roby, R-Montgomery.
According to the memo released to the Alabama Political Reporter (APR) incumbent Martha Roby is viewed favorably by only thirty-three percent of Republican voters, while forty-three percent have an unfavorable view of the four-term congresswoman.
WPA Intelligence wrote in their memo, “GOP challengers Barry Marry and Tommy Amason have an opportunity to define their candidacies while Roby must face the challenge of returning her favorability measures to net positive in advance of a potentially tough primary battle.”
State Representative Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, said in a statement, “Over the last seven years, Martha Roby has established a record as one of the most liberal Republicans in Washington. However, it is her opposition to President Trump last fall that has District 2 ready to send her home. Now is the time for Republicans to come together and deliver on conservative promises, and we cannot count on Martha Roby to be part of the solution. It’s time for a change, and I am glad that our polling is showing strong momentum behind our campaign.”
Roby has near universal name recognition in the district (94 percent), however nearly half view the Congresswoman unfavorably. Thirty-seven percent of Republican Primary Voters have never heard of Rep. Moore. Seventy-five percent have never heard of Tommy Amason.
If the election were today, (according to the poll) Roby would only have thirty-four percent of the vote. Rep. Barry Moore would have 21 percent of the vote with Tommy Amason receiving five percent support. A full forty percent of voters are unsure how they would vote.
WPA Intelligence concluded that “the GOP Primary contest in Alabama’s Second Congressional District is wide open.” “Barry Moore enters the race in a time when voters are far from locking in behind the incumbent and are open to alternatives. Starting off with the support of one-in-five GOP Primary Voters (21 percent) puts Moore within striking distance of incumbent Roby who sits well below the majority threshold in her ballot share (34 percent).”
WPA Intelligence collected 1,040 interviews through an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) methodology from August 7th and 8th. The margin of error is ±3.1 percent. WPAi was founded in 1998 and has conducted political polling for campaigns from President to Governor and U.S. Senate to Mayor and City Council in all 50 states and several foreign countries.
Moore was elected to the Alabama House of Representative in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014. His campaign touts that he was the first elected official in Alabama to endorse Donald Trump and that he was declared the most conservative legislator in the State by the YellowHammer News.
Rep. Moore said, “Everywhere I go, I am seeing an incredible response from the grassroots. We are winning new voters every day, and there is such dissatisfaction with our current representation. This poll validates what we are seeing on the trail- that Alabamians want someone who will work with President Trump to implement the Make America Great Again Agenda.”
Barry Moore and his wife Heather reside in Enterprise, AL where he runs a small business. Moore was prosecuted for perjury by the Alabama Attorney General’s office. He was found not guilty.
Tommy Amason is a retired U.S. Army Sergeant Major.
Martha Roby is an attorney and former Montgomery City Council member.
The Republican Primary will be on June 5, 2017.
