Benker, who is running for re-election for the Ward 2 council seat, filed three complaints with the City Clerk’s Office on Monday, one of which was about a Sept. 23 telephone poll.

In her complaint, Benker said the “push poll” was biased against her and brought up policy positions that were untrue.

But the groups that did the poll — Western Tradition Partnership and the Longmont Leadership Committee — say the poll was legitimate (not a push poll) and that polling voters doesn’t fall under the city’s campaign finance laws, so they haven’t violated any regulations.

“Push polls” are phone calls that are dishonestly presented as public-opinion surveys but really are meant to sway voters.

The groups hired the Institute on Voter Attitudes and Public Policy based in Virginia to ask voters about policy issues and “head-to-head matchups” — whether someone would be more likely to vote for one candidate over another, said Bill Ray, a spokesman for the Longmont Leadership Committee.