Pollster John Couvillon on Thursday rebutted the lengthy criticism of his survey gauging the state of play of the special election campaign for an Alabama Senate seat.

Couvillon, of JMC Analytics, was responding to appointed Sen. Luther Strange, whose political adviser Travis Smith in a leaked campaign memo to supporters tore apart his poll from a few weeks ago, conducted just after round one of the special Republican primary in which the incumbent advanced to the Sept. 26 runoff when he finished 6 percentage points back of Roy Moore, the former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.