Attack ads do little to results

A poll finds few voters were influenced by ads in the mayor's race.

The effect of attack ads in Tulsa's mayoral campaign was largely a wash, the most recent Oklahoma Poll suggests.

More than 80 percent of the 750 likely Tulsa voters surveyed from Oct. 31 to Nov. 5 said they were aware of negative advertising in the mayoral campaign, but most said they were little influenced by the ads, while the few who were canceled each other out.

Surveyed a week before the election, those who intended to switch their votes because of negative ads were almost evenly split between the eventual winner, Republican Dewey Bartlett, and Democrat Tom Adelson. Similarly, independent Mark Perkins drew equally from Republicans and Democrats who said they were put off by Bartlett's and Adelson's campaigns.

Slightly more (28 percent to 24 percent) thought Bartlett's campaign had been the more negative, but 41 percent thought the two were equally at fault.

Continued -- Click here to read the entire Tulsa World article