The internal campaign poll, by a Democratic firm, showed Kissell with a 17-point lead over Johnson and wider spread over Libertarian Thomas Hill. Kissell highlighted the survey in a fundraising letter last week.
"I'm putting no stock in it," Johnson said today at a GOP rally in east Charlotte. "It's a desperate move to convince people they should forget (Democratic House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi, forget his vote for stimulus."
In his fundraising letter, Kissell quoted from an article about the poll in Roll Call, a Capitol Hill paper. "Kissell said Thursday that while it was nice to have a favorable snapshot of the race, he has no plans to slow down on the campaign trail," the article said.