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If you live in Bucks County, your phone might have beeped recently with a text message claiming to be from something called "Research-Polls." It promises a short, confidential survey about "local issues in Pennsylvania."

It’s not a poll. It’s a push poll. And it’s one of the oldest, dirtiest tricks in modern politics, repackaged for the smartphone era. The target, Bob Harvie, the Democratic opponent to Brian Fitzpatrick. A textbook smear campaign disguised as market research. These "surveys" aren't designed to measure public opinion; they’re designed to manipulate it. They operate by presenting voters with a series of incredibly leading, highly biased scenarios—often based on half-truths, stripped of context, or flat-out lies—and asking the voter if this "information" makes them more or less likely to vote for the target.

What the "Survey" Actually Looks Like

Let's look at the actual questions being blasted to Bucks County phones. The survey asks: "If you knew each of the following were true about Bob Harvie, please indicate if it would make you MORE or LESS likely to vote for him..."

What follows isn't a list of questions, it's a list of opposition research talking points disguised as hypothetical facts:

• It claims Harvie "lined his own pockets" by voting to increase salaries for "Buck County politicians."*
• It claims he "voted AGAINST Bucks County's Sheriff working with federal immigration enforcement agencies, comparing it to 1930's Germany."*
• It claims he voted against hiring sheriff's deputies, leaving "felony warrants to go unserved" and "criminals on the streets."*
• It attacks him for spending county funds on "ridiculous things" like gift cards for county employees who got Covid shots.* 
• In perhaps the most egregious question, it claims Harvie is "endorsed by an extreme political group that supports giving sex change drugs to kids."

Another section of the "survey" drops the pretense entirely, asking respondents to choose between a Republican candidate "who is committed to holding criminals accountable for defrauding taxpayers" or a Democrat candidate "who refuses to do anything to stop the epidemic of fraud." This isn't data collection, it's a digital attack ad intended to fool you.

The Shell Game Behind "Research-Polls"

So who is sending this garbage? The texts originate from a generic entity called "Research-Polls" with a link pointing to `research-polls.com`.

If that name sounds familiar to political watchdogs, it should. Back in 2022, the Dakota Free Press documented an identical tactic playing out in South Dakota during the gubernatorial race between Kristi Noem and Jamie Smith. Voters there received texts from the exact same "Research-Polls" outfit.

At the time, the *Dakota Free Press* tracked the website to a purported market research company supposedly based out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The domain itself was newly created, registered behind privacy shields that make it virtually impossible to tell who is actually funding the operation, and that is exactly the point.

Under Federal Election Commission rules, political advertisements broadcast on television or mailed to your house require a "paid for by" disclaimer. But the rules governing text message push polling exist in a muddy, under-enforced gray area of campaign finance law. Dark money groups and shadowy PACs use services like "Research-Polls" because it allows them to inject toxic, unverified claims directly into voters' hands without leaving a fingerprint.

If the claims in these push polls were verifiable facts, a candidate or a PAC would proudly slap their name on them and run them on television. The fact that they hide behind a fake survey firm from Florida should tell you exactly how confident they are in the truth of their own statements. 

Brian Fitzpatrick's campaign may or may not be directly involved, these things are designed specifically for deniability, but his supporters are clearly utilizing dark-money sewer tactics to try and sink Bob Harvie.

If this survey hits your phone, do yourself a favor: reply "STOP" and delete it. The only thing "Research-Polls" is actually researching is how much garbage Bucks County voters are willing to swallow.