Data for Progress (DFP) is an American

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

, polling firm, and

political advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as lobby groups, interest groups, special interest groups, pressure groups, or public associations, use various forms of advocacy or lobbying to influence public opinion and ultimately public policy. They play an impor ...

. Until his dismissal in November 2022, the organization was headed by data scientist and activist Sean McElwee, who co-founded the organization in 2018. Affiliated with the progressive movement, Data for Progress has released reports and conducted polling on policy matters such as proposals for a

Green New Deal The Green New Deal (GND) calls for public policy to address climate change, along with achieving other social aims like job creation, economic growth, and reducing economic inequality. The name refers to the New Deal, a set of changes and ...

. Following the election of

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

, Data for Progress has been described as an influential force among progressives in the Democratic Party.

History and mission

Data for Progress was founded in 2018 by

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

Sean McElwee,

computational scientist A computational scientist is a person skilled in scientific computing. This person is usually a scientist, a statistician, an applied mathematician, or an engineer who applies high-performance computing and sometimes cloud computing in different ...

Colin McAuliffe, and

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

Jon Green. Data for Progress has been credited by ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'' for releasing one of the first reports on the

. McElwee has stated that he envisions Data for Progress to serve as a "one-stop shop" for left-wing policy development, polling, and using media to gain public recognition for progressive goals. Data for Progress has become subject to criticism from some members of the

American Left The American Left refers to the groups or ideas on the left of the political spectrum in the United States. It is occasionally used as a shorthand for groups aligned with the Democratic Party. At other times, it refers to groups that have soug ...

, who argue it is insufficiently critical of the party establishment. Reception to the organization was noted in a 2021 article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', which highlighted Data for Progress's unusually fast rise to influence:

President Biden mentions it in private calls. The White House reads its work. And Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, teams up with its leaders for news conferences, blog posts and legislation. The embrace of Data for Progress by the highest ranks of the Democratic Party is a coming-of-age moment for a left-leaning polling firm and think tank that is barely three years old.

In 2021, vice president of policy & strategy Julian Brave NoiseCat was named to ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine's ''Time'' 100 Next list of emerging global leaders.

Polling

Data for Progress regularly conducts election polling, especially for

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

s. In the

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

race for

New York's 16th congressional district New York's 16th congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives represented by George Latimer (New York politician), George Latimer. The 16th district includes a small portion of the northern B ...

, Data for Progress was the sole public pollster to show challenger Jamaal Bowman lead incumbent Eliot Engel. In 2021, the firm conducted polling that found a majority of Democratic voters in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

would favor a primary challenge to Senator

Kyrsten Sinema Kyrsten Lea Sinema ( ; born July 12, 1976) is an American politician, lawyer, and former social worker who served from 2019 to 2025 as a United States senator from Arizona. A former member of the Democratic Party, Sinema became an independent ...

due to her opposition to some of the Biden administration's measures in Congress. In the 2020 presidential cycle, Data for Progress's polling on viewers' response to the presidential debate between

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

and

was covered by the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. Following the 2020 presidential election, the ''New York Times'' published a piece titled "Polling's Prognosis: Wary Conservatives and Eager Liberals" regarding Data for Progress's polling outfit. The article stated:

Data for Progress's results have been on the more accurate side among its peers, though it relies entirely on so-called nonprobability methods
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
haven't gained full acceptance as an industry standard for political polls, at least not yet.

Data for Progress' polls in 2020 underestimated support for Republican candidates. During the 2022 midterms, their polls ended up overestimating Republican support. '' The Tartan'' reported that the group's leader, Sean McElwee, was gambling on election results on the website

PredictIt PredictIt is a New Zealand-based online prediction market that offers exchanges on political and financial events. PredictIt is owned and operated by Victoria University of Wellington with support from Aristotle, Inc. The company's office is lo ...

, raising ethical concerns. McElwee left the firm in November 2022 amidst allegations of gambling on election results and artificially manipulating polling results to affect races that he had bet money on. Additionally, it has been reported McElwee had inquired among his employees about having them participate in an illegal straw donor scheme. Senior members of Data for Progress informed McElwee that they would resign en masse if he did not step down as the firm's executive director.

Activities

Policy areas that have been polled by Data for Progress include proposals to end the

filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent a decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking ...

and expand

voting rights Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in ...

environmental policy Environmental policy is the commitment of an organization or government to the laws, regulations, and other policy mechanisms concerning environmental issues. These issues generally include air and water pollution, waste management, ecosystem ...

(including the

and green housing), proposals for

Medicare for All Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare, in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from pr ...

pharmaceutical drug Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

pricing, capping

credit card interest Credit card interest is a way in which credit card issuers generate revenue. A card issuer is a bank or credit union that gives a consumer (the cardholder) a card or account number that can be used with various payees to make payments and borro ...

rates, reallocating funds appropriated to the defense budget to domestic services,

Federal personnel

During and following the 2020 presidential election, Data for Progress pushed for the inclusion of progressives and the exclusion of moderates in a Biden administration. Julian Brave NoiseCat, the organization's vice president of policy & strategy, has been credited for leading a successful lobbying campaign to have Deb Haaland be appointed as Secretary of the Interior.

State legislative elections

In 2019, the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' profiled the organization's "Party Builder" ranking built in conjunction with Future Now Fund. This list served to quantify the support given by 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidates to state legislative candidates in order to incentive further investment in these races. 2019 also saw the launch of Data for Progress's "Fuck Gerry(mandering)" project in collaboration with

Crooked Media Crooked Media is an American progressive political media company. It was founded in 2017 by Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vietor, all former top Barack Obama staffers and co-hosts of the '' Keepin' It 1600'' podcast. Dan Pfeiffer, also a ...

, which served to assist Democrats running for the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

Blog

Data for Progress's blog has been contributed to by political figures including

Senate Majority Leader The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and people of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as chief spokespersons for their respective political parties, holding the ...

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York, a seat he has held since 1999. ...

References

{{reflist Progressive organizations in the United States Public opinion research companies in the United States Think tanks based in the United States Think tanks established in 2018 2018 establishments in the United States