Field Poll: Fresno Mayor 'Askley Swearenger' -- a Name to Remember

The San Francisco-based Field Poll has released a survey for publication Saturday on the state controller's race. The results are embargoed, so we can't share any of the findings.

But we can say that one of the candidates that Field asked voters about was an "Ashley Swearenger," described in the poll's release Friday afternoon as the Republican mayor of Fresno.

A couple hours after its first release, Field came out with a corrected version that made it clear the candidate in question is Ashley Swearengin, who is indeed Fresno's mayor.

Although Swearengin's name was spelled correctly in the new release, the accompanying email explaining the correction said:

It has come to our attention that the Field Poll we released earlier today contained an unfortunate, incorrect spelling of Fresno Mayor Askley Swearengin's name. We apologize for this error and have made revisions to the report.

"Askley." Uh huh.

The one serious question about the faux pas is what name Field used when it did the poll. I called Mark DiCamillo, Field's director, and he confirmed that "Swearenger" was the name the survey's interviewers used when conducting their telephone survey in late March and early April.

He said he felt the difference between "Swearenger" and "Swearengin" was probably inconsequential. "On the phone, it doesn't sound that different. DiCamillo, DiCamilla — people will hear the same thing."

Then I asked him about the new reference to Askley Swearengin. He laughed.

"You're really making my Friday," he said. "There's something about that name we can't get right. Now I think I'll remember her name for the rest of my life. I hope she becomes governor."