Amid a troubled political environment, nearly 2 dozen House Dems commissioned polls over the last 3 months, according to reports filed with the FEC. But those polls weren't made public, leaving some GOPers to believe incumbents are beginning to run scared.
The members who conducted polling are among the GOP's top targets this year. Reps. Mark Schauer (D-MI), Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), Chet Edwards (R-TX), Ike Skelton (D-MO), Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Chris Carney (D-PA) were among those who paid for polling.
The campaigns involved largely refused to discuss their internal polling, citing policies against revealing internal strategy. Megan Jacobs, a spokesperson for Edwards' campaign, pointed to a strategy memo arguing Edwards' campaign is far ahead, but the memo doesn't cite poll numbers.
Spokespeople for Schauer, Pomeroy, Skelton, Boucher and Carney, along with a dozen other members of Congress, did not return calls or emails seeking comment about their surveys.
On Twitter, Ken Spain of the National Republican Congressional Committee notes that the refusal by Democrats to release poll results is a "big reversal" from the last two election cycles.