Political polling was in a state of disrepair after the 2016 election. The costs of bad polling were severe – bad polling led the Clinton campaign to misallocate resources in key states, caused inconsistent media scrutiny towards Clinton and Trump, and may have even driven nonchalance among progressive base voters. Traditional pollsters faced insurmountable selection biases from landline telephones and prohibitively expensive costs from cell-phone calls. Worse still, respondents often concealed their true positions when speaking to someone over the phone. Change Research co-founder Mike Greenfield was an experienced data scientist who was sure the internet could provide a faster, more affordable, and more accurate solution. Change Research has reimagined a 21st Century polling technology that is 90% cheaper, 90% faster, and much more accurate.
Change quickly scaled their services across progressive campaigns and causes, completing over 500 polls in 2018. They have been featured by FiveThirtyEight, MSNBC, The Iowa Starting Line, Politico, and more. It’s led them to beat the NYT’s average error in 16 districts where both Change and NYT polled and have 10% more accurate predictions than the historical average for FiveThirtyEight.
Change has already been on the forefront of the fight for progressive candidates. In the grueling 2018 race in IA-04, Change helped soar Democratic candidate JD Scholten. A late October Change poll found Scholten to be only 1 point behind incumbent Steve King. Armed with this insight, Scholten’s campaign received a pouring of donations – up to $900,000. Scholten came within 3 points of King in a district that Trump led by 27 points. Change was also the only poll showing Andrew Gillum leading the Democratic primary for governor in Florida. They also provided polling services to newly-elected Member of Congress Lauren Underwood and newly elected Governor of Connecticut Ned Lamont.
With a wide range of polling options available, Change is standing out in the field. 2020 candidates can gain insights into the early states, learn about issues on the minds of voters, and dive deep into the media landscape. This campaign cycle, all of Change’s polls will be completely automated to speed up the insights delivered to campaign teams.
Change’s subscription polling service amplifies the voices of the public by allowing campaign teams to hear from voters even more often, at a lower cost. With hopes to democratize public polling and provide fast, accurate, and accessible insights to campaigns up and down the ballot, Change Research is working for the American people.
