FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Jim Kainber

July 17, 2012 jim@kainber.com

(360) 292-8074

Poll shows Steve Hobbs surging in campaign
for Congress before ballots drop

Snohomish County, Wash. A new poll of the 1
st
District shows centrist state Sen. Steve Hobbs, an Iraq
War veteran, surging in his campaign for Congress to the point of a three way tie for first
u . 1
better.

P S C k C
from pollster Don McDonough.

Among Democrats, liberal activist Darcy Burner is at 13 percent, Hobbs is at 12 percent, and Governor
'Z^. Professional
fundraiser Laura Ruderman polls at five percent. 27 percent of voters remain undecided. John Koster,
the sole Republican in the race, maintains a lead in the crowded race at 30 percent of the vote.

The good polling data come as no surprise to the Hobbs campaign, which has put an emphasis on an
C 8 M
v L M P l
l rough the hyper-partisanship and brinksmanship that
has kept this Congress from performing its most basic functions. Voters are responding to my message


The poll was conducted on a random sample of 300 likely August primary election voters in the 1st
District between June 29th and July 2nd. It has a margin of error of 5.6 percent at a confidence interval
of 95 percent. This is the first internal poll to be released in the 1
st
District campaign since Burner
released a name ID poll in January.

This polling demonstrates more momentum for the Hobbs campaign following recent endorsements
from four law enforcement organizations, the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters, and the Seattle
Times.

Voters appear to be responding to what the Times noted, that P has a demonstrated capacity to


work across partisan lines under the most contentious circumstances. His skills and abilities are
uS C

Last week, the Bellingham Herald published an op-ed from Hobbs, discussing how extreme partisanship
is paralyzing Congress 1 P M S ! u L have been
replaced by eccentrics like Dennis Kucinich and Michelle Bachmann. In an all-or-nothing Congress,
nothing can be accomplishe P hen those of us privileged enough to get the
opportunity to serve were elected, we took an oath of office, not an oath of party.

In addition to serving in the Washington state Senate for the last six years, Hobbs is an officer in the
Washington National Guard and proudly served in Iraq and Kosovo. He and his wife Pam have three
boys and live in Lake Stevens.

To l S P C www.HobbsForCongress.com,
l Facebook.com/electhobbs, and follow his campaign on Twitter at
@Hobbs4Congress. To see a list of endorsements, visit www.HobbsForCongress.com/endorsements.

# # #
DMA MARKET RESEARCH


TO: Interested Parties
FR: Don McDonough
RE: Poll Summary
DA: July 10, 2012


The data contained in this memo is based on a random sample of 300 likely August Primary Election
voters in the First Congressional District conducted June 29
th
- July 2
nd
. The margin of error for this poll
is +/- 5.6% at a confidence interval of 95%. The results of this survey for any given data point would
match the results of the entire population within the margin of error 95 out of 100 times if the survey
were administered to the whole universe of likely Primary voters in the First Congressional District.

Steve Hobbs is in a very competitive position among his Democratic rivals and is, in fact, in a three way
tie for first place. John Koster leads among Republicans and will advance to the General Election based
on being the sole Republican in the race.

The poll clearly demonstrates that when voters hear more about Steve Hobbs - his independence,
military service record, his State Senate experience, and working with Republicans to get things done in
the Legislature, as well as his working/middle class background - Democrats and Independents move to
support him in numbers high enough to move him to the General Election contest with Republican John
Koster.

Among Democrats the race is wide open with over a quarter of the voters still undecided. This is the
case even though Del Bene has been advertising on Television for three weeks and other candidates
have began their direct mail campaigns. Steve Hobbs has yet to spend any voter communication dollars
and he is tied with two of his Democratic rivals.

Hobbs is extremely competitive for several reasons. He has a solid base of support in his home Senate
District, the 44
th
, and in adjacent Legislative Districts he is running very strongly. Hobbs has an outright
lead in Snohomish County at this point and is tied in King County. Hobbs has also been helped by an
aggressive field campaign and the endorsement from the Seattle Times, particularly in King County.

Hobbs is achieving a tie at this point in the race even though two of his Democratic opponents have
slightly higher name identification. Hobbs overall favorable rating is higher and his ratio of favorable to
unfavorable opinion is 4:1 - a very high ratio of positive to negative feeling, and twice as high a ratio as
any of his opponents, including John Koster.

When candidate profiles are read, Hobbs' profile and core messages work very well among likely
Democratic Primary voters.

Sixty percent of voters in our sample say the Seattle Times describing Hobbs' moderation" and
independence", and his working across partisan lines" to get things done, are very persuasive" reasons
to vote for him. Undecided voters in particular find the Seattle Times endorsement very persuasive" and
movement to Hobbs in the re-vote among undecided Democrats results in a Hobbs leading significantly in
the second vote question in the poll.

This poll shows Hobbs can definitely achieve a victory with adequate voter communication.