Text Poll Pushed Out; Is Jose Moreno Planning to Primary Rep. Lou Correa?

My phone lit up Wednesday afternoon into the event with multiple sources asking if I got a text-based push poll asking questions about the 2022 election.  The nature of the questions suggests Anaheim Councilmember Dr. Jose Moreno is testing the waters for a possible primary challenge in CA46 against incumbent Rep. Lou Correa.

Moreno is termed out of the city council in 2022.  There was speculation he would run for 4th district BoS seat occupied by Doug Chaffee if Chaffee retired.

I can’t share the screen grabs without revealing my source, so here are the questions:

• What year were you born?
• There’s a message that all questions about age, race, gender are for statistical purposes only.
• What state do you currently live?
• What is your Zip Code?
• Select your gender (male and male were only options)
• Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the following public figures (with choices ranging from very unfavorable, somewhat unfavorable, somewhat favorable, very favorable, and haven’t heard enough to say)
• The public figures were:  Sarah Graham, Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
• In the March 2020 primary election for the US House, who did you vote for? Choices were Democrat Pablo Mendiolea, Independent Ed Rushman. Democrat Lou Correa, Republican James Waters, Independent Will Johnson, or I did not vote in this election.
• If you don’t mind saying, who did you vote for in the 2020 election? Republican Donald Trump, Democrat Joe Biden, Libertarian Jo Jorgensen, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, and I did not vote.
• There will be a primary election for the US House in 2022 where candidates from any party will be able to run, and the top two will go to a runoff if no one wins the primary with over 50%; how likely are you to vote in this election? Choices are definitely, probably will vote, 50-50, probably will not and definitely will not.
• If two Democrats were to advance to the general election rather than two candidates from different parties, how likely is it that you would vote  in the general election? (same choices as previous question)
• Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of each of the following public figures (with strongly favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, strong unfavorable and not sure) and the people identified are: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Lou Correa, Kevin Faulconer, Bernie Sanders, Jose F. Moreno, Gavin Newsom.
• How much do you support or oppose each of the following issues (strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, strongly oppose, don’t know) and the issues were: Medicare for All, a government-run healthcare system.  Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour.  A Green New Deal, a $2 trillion investment in clean energy jobs and infrastructure.
• Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of each of the following (same choices as previous question on favorability): Socialism, Congress, The Police, Capitalism.
• When it comes to your Representative in the US House, how important are each of the following to you (Not important, not that important, somewhat important, very important):
• Here are the questions: Bringing back funding to our district for education, housing transportation and healthcare.   Leading in Congress by writing laws and advocating for progressive priorities. A willingness to work with Republicans to get things done. Attending community meetings and events. Having office hours where constituents can meet with them.
• Do you approve of the job Lou Correa is doing as a US representative? (Strongly approve, somewhat approve, somewhat disapprove, strongly disapprove, not sure)
• How much do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements? (choices mirror prior questions but has one neutral answer)
• Lou Correa fights for me while he’s in DC?
• Lou Correa cares about me and my community?
• Lou Correa is a progressive voice in Congress?
• Lou Correa is a real member of my community attending local events and interacting with the public?
• How much would it matter to you if Lou Correa lost his next election and was replaced by other representative of the same political party with similar beliefs? (choices mirror similar questions of doesn’t matter to matters a lot)
• Which would you prefer?  A representative that is much more conservative than Lou Correa?  A representative that is somewhat more conservative than Lou Correa? To kee Lou Correa in Congress?  A representative that is somewhat more liberal than Lou Correa? A representative that is much more liberal than Lou Correa?
• If the 2022 general election for the US House were between Democrat Lou Correa and a more progressive Democrat, who would you vote for?  Choices were: A more progressive Democrat, Democrat Lou Correa, I would not vote in this election, and Not Sure.
• What is the highest level of school you have completed or the highest degree you have received? (Choices range from no high school diplomas to advanced degree)
• Choose the race or ethnicity that you consider yourself to be?
• Are you of Latino or Hispanic descent?
• Using the following scale, how would you describe yourself politically? Very conservative, somewhat conservative, moderate, somewhat liberal, very liberal.
• Do you think of yourself as a Democrat, Republican, an Independent or something else?
• Are you or someone in your household a member of a labor union?
• Click on all the sources of news that you have gotten from about government and politics in the last week.  If unsure, do not click. Choices were: CNN, The New Yorker, Broadcast News (like ABC, CBS or NBC), local TV news, Facebook, Fox News, Twitter, MSNBC, OANN, New York Times, Newsmax.
• Is there anything about this survey you would like to tell us; an answer is not required.

Now progressive activist Jestin Samson has already announced he plans to challenge Rep. Correa in the primary on mostly a Medicare4All platform.  It’s unlikely he has the funds to pay for this push poll via text.  Councilmember Moreno certainly does and he does troll Correa on social media regularly.

TheLiberalOC reached out to Moreno yesterday afternoon asking him to confirm if he was the source of this poll and he did not respond.  UPDATE: Moreno texted back early Friday afternoon and said he didn;t kow anything about the survey “but certainly interesting.”

CA46 will be subject to redistricting and its solidly Democratic but it isn’t Progressive, making it far more likely Correa will hold this seat until he decides he’s had enough.  AOC’s seat in Metro New York City is.  Both New York and California are likely to lose one or two seats in the census-drive redistricting