Last week, The Denver Post's Jeremy Meyer reported on a poll Denver Mayor Michael Hancock was fielding through a private non-profit that raised money to pay for it. A source tells us Hancock has received the results and is not disclosing them to avoid embarrassment over his low approval ratings.
Our source tells us Hancock's approval rating has dropped to 46% in Denver already, putting him more than 20 points behind Hickenlooper in the city, according to Hick’s numbers in the latest Ciruli Associates poll. The source also tells us Hancock is under 40% approval among women.
We should note that we have not seen an actual copy of the poll results, but the source has proven to be reliable in the past.
It's no wonder with results like those he didn't release the poll. But it probably wasn't smart to announce the poll in The Denver Post if you want to hide the results afterward.
Without access to the full polling report, one can only surmise why Hancock would be doing so poorly among women, but we're guessing the hooker scandal that engulfed his campaign last year might have something to do with it.
A misspelled version of the Mayor's name, Han(d)cock, showed up in a prostitution ring's appointment book. Hancock has never put the issue to rest, refusing to show the press his bank statements proving he had not withdrawn hundreds of dollars in cash on the days it was alleged he visited the prostitutes. The Denver Post backed off their investigation, though, after Hancock released selectively chosen cell phone records.
Hancock not only botched that scandal, but has had a stream of public relation disasters. When the Occupy Denver confrontations took place with police, Hancock was nowhere to be seen.
He also took his staff on a swanky Beaver Creek retreat at a donor's mansion, tried to ban the press from recording his press briefings, and is paying his political appointees at least $1 million more than Hickenlooper did when he was mayor.
It's been a rough first year for Mayor Hancock. It may get rougher if it turns out Hancock has been hiding bad poll results.