“Not only was the survey statistically flawed, it was jiggered … and it made me mad,” Bolinske said.

As stunned attorneys looked on, Bolinske asked Tufte if he would allow such a poll as evidence in his courtroom and said he didn’t trust the poll or Tufte.

“That’s exactly what I said: ‘I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw you,’ ” Bolinske recalled.

Thornton said it was “surreal” to watch.

“It was entirely unbecoming of a judicial candidate,” he said.

Maurice McCormick, an attorney and partner at Vogel Law Firm for more than 40 years, said he stepped in “and I just basically said, ‘That’s enough. This is not what this is about.’ ”

Bolinske – who pointedly asked McCormick who he was, having never met him before – said Tuesday he didn’t believe it was McCormick’s place to intervene.

“I think Jerod Tufte should be able to protect himself,” he said.

Bolinske acknowledged saying, “Let’s get it on” at one point during his rant, but said he meant it as a campaign challenge and not a physical challenge to Tufte.