7 Questions

Pollster Ben Lazarus is currently the Director of Research Solutions at TargetSmart. He is a specialist in state legislative races and works as a principal pollster and analytics consultant for the New Jersey Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee, the Maryland Senate Democratic Caucus, and the Indiana House Democratic Caucus. We asked him 7 questions on polling in state legislative races.

Craig Johnson and Alan Rosenblatt are both a part of Unfiltered.Media, where Johnson is the co-founder and Rosenblatt is a partner. Together they have more than 35 years of experience in digital communication. Now, more than ever, virtual canvassing has become essential for the success of campaigns. Here are the 7 questions we asked them to gather their insights on virtual canvassing during COVID-19:

Chuck Rocha has been doing ground-breaking work from the start. At 29, he was the first person of color named National Political Director of the United Steelworkers of America (USW). In 2010, Rocha left USW and founded Solidarity Strategies, a Latino-owned and operated political consulting firm. In 2016 and 2020, he worked for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, acting as a senior advisor for the 2020 campaign.

David Pepper is the former chairman for the Ohio Democratic Party. Prior to that, he served as a councilman for the city of Cincinnati and was a member of the Hamilton County Board of Commissions. Pepper has authored The People’s House, which predicted Russian meddling in the 2016 elections, as well as The Wingman, which focuses on the role of dark money in campaigns.

Keith Rosendahl is the past campaign manager for Henry Cuellar for re-election as Congressmen for the 28th Congressional District in Texas. We asked Keith some questions about how COVID-19 has changed the way campaigns run, especially in the lead up to the 2020 election.

ActBlue is a nonprofit organization that aims to increase public participation in politics primarily through grassroots campaign fundraising. Their grassroots political fundraising tool allows Democratic and progressive campaigns and organizations to increase their individual donations and build a grassroots-funded movement.

Ruth Bernstein is president and CEO at EMC Research, a national polling and opinion research firm. Ruth leads polling on a wide variety of political, policy, and marketing projects. She is especially proud of her work helping to elect women and people of color to office and securing voter approval for education, transportation, minimum wage increases, and environmental protection. We asked Ruth 7 questions on membership surveys and how they can benefit your organization.

Lincoln Mitchell is a political analyst and writer based in New York and San Francisco. In his book, San Francisco Year Zero: Political Upheaval, Punk Rock and a Third Place Baseball Team, Mitchell explores how San Francisco became a city of contradictions as one of the most socially liberal cities with some of the worst income inequality in the United States.

Alan Secrest has been polling for 35 years and reached out with some insights into political polling during a crisis:

Gavin Edwards is a three-time New York Times-bestselling author and public speaker. Throughout his career, he has written twelve books and made appearances on NBC’s Today show, VH1’s Behind the Music, and NPR’s All Things Considered. The common thread between Gavin’s praised writing and skilled public speaking is his ability to tell a story in an effective and engaging way.

Throughout the year, we’ve been lucky enough to speak with so many people who are experts across many different fields as part of our 7 Questions series. These folks made some book recommendations that we want to highlight and share with you. 

Can you believe the holiday season is already upon us? Though we know you’re already gearing up for 2020, the 2019 election season has finally come to an end, and it’s time to take a deep breath before jumping back in.