LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - A campaign conduct committee cleared state Supreme Court Justice John Roach of accusations he used an inflammatory "push poll" last month against his opponent, Fayette Circuit Judge Mary Noble.

Lexington attorney Spencer Noe, chairman of the Kentucky
Judicial Campaign Conduct Committee, said Noble's campaign could
not produce any evidence to support allegations that the poll was
designed to smear Noble.

Noble's campaign manager, Dea Riley, has said that poll respondents in Fayette, Franklin and Madison counties told her that
the questions implied that Noble was a lesbian.

In a push poll, a telemarketer releases negative, and sometimes
false, information about a candidate, then asks the respondent to
react to the information.

The committee reviewed the 62-question survey and spoke with the
pollster who wrote it. It found no insinuations of lesbianism, Noe
said.

The poll lasted about 20 minutes and contained positive and
negative information about both candidates, the committee said. The
committee agreed not to divulge the contents of the survey because
of Roach's concerns about revealing strategy.

Roach is the former executive counsel to Gov. Ernie Fletcher,
who appointed him to the high court.
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Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader,
http://www.kentucky.com

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)