With State Senator Alberta Darling’s 54{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} win last night, Public Opinion Strategies helped defend the GOP majority and turn back a public employee union sponsored recall election.

Congratulations to Senator Darling and all of those involved in the campaign.

From the get-go, the campaign used our research to guide its messaging – Darling was NEVER below 50{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}, and the campaign adopted a strategy that would drive Alberta’s vote higher.

Our polling showed that voters were extremely polarized.  However, it also showed there was little interest in turning back the clock to Pasch’s record of unchecked spending and blank checks for taxpayer funded public employee union benefits.  (Taxpayer funded Viagra for public school teachers?  Really?)

Once voters had a choice, Senator Darling’s support went up.

Research also showed that much of the Democratic campaign was falling on deaf ears; only about a third of the voters (34{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}) believed Darling supported ending Medicare while just about half (49{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}) believed Pasch and fellow travelers were just playing politics.

Finally, our data showed that while Democrats may own the labor union grass-tops (or, vise-versa?), many of the rank-and-file aren’t with them:  our last track showed Darling polling 42{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} of the union vote.

This is a remarkable finding given the blood and treasure public employee unions spent on an unsuccessful effort to defeat Darling.