A secret W.F.P. poll of a Teachout alias
Laura Nahmias
ALBANY—In late May, when operatives of the Working Families Party was still grooming Zephyr Teachout for a possible run against Andrew Cuomo, the party conducted a private poll to test how well an unknown, oddly named law professor might fare in a Democratic primary.
Teachout's potential candidacy was still cloaked in secrecy at the time, so the W.F.P. polled her fictional counterpart: "Teresa Woodstock."
The poll, a copy of which was obtained by Capital, surveyed 550 likely Democratic and unaffiliated voters, between May 22 and May 25, and again on May 27, just a few days before delegates to the party’s convention in Albany would have to decide whether to back the incumbent governor or gamble on a protest challenger. (The party ended up backing Cuomo over Teachout, after the governor grudgingly promised to try to help the Democracts take back the State Senate.)
Pollsters first asked respondents whether they’d vote for Cuomo or “Woodstock” in a primary, without telling them anything about Woodstock, beyond that she was the chosen candidate of the Working Families Party.
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