Our Work in Action
Approach
Polling
We conducted initial polling to identify geographic regions where Williams had existing support. Then, we worked to determine where messaging generated the most opportunity for Williams to pick up new support.
Analysis
We produced neighborhood targeting maps and regional profiles, incorporating data on custom voter metrics, preferred modes of campaign outreach, candidate and issue preferences, as well as media consumption habits.
Strategy
We partnered with Williams's campaign to compile a citywide messaging plan. Our work was used by the Williams campaign to craft a strategy for mail, field, media, and digital outreach resource deployment.
Results
Electoral results validate Slingshot targeting guidance and outreach recommendations. Williams’s best electoral performance was precisely where our polling and targeting predicted: Southeast Queens, Western Queens, Central Brooklyn, Northern Brooklyn, and Uptown Manhattan.
Slingshot Projections
Election Results
Our final product — a sophisticated piece of highly actionable internal research — proved to be highly useful to Jumaane Williams's winning campaign.
The Event
America in One Room was a forum for political discussion, bringing together over 500 participants from across the country in "the most representative sample of the American voting electorate in U.S. history," according to A1R's organizers. Researchers tracked participants' opinions throughout the event. Through dialogue, polarization decreased, providing a roadmap for a future of more productive political discourse.
Slingshot's Role
Slingshot served as the political advisor to a team of academics and non-profits, including the Center for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford University, NORC at the University of Chicago, and By the People Productions. Outside of logistical and strategic advising, Slingshot worked to recruit an array of high-profile candidates to speak at the event, including Julián Castro and Michael Bennet. Slingshot also helped the A1R communications team maximize event coverage in order to spark widespread dialogue beyond the event itself.
Coverage
"[A1R is] a reminder that behind every opinion lies a human being with real experiences and a story to tell."
President Barack Obama
"This is the kind of tool that can affect change in American democracy at scale."
Henry Elkus, CEO of Helena
"In an era in which we’re increasingly polarized as a country and even facts are under fire, the idea that an event devoted to political debate can increase knowledge, decrease skepticism of the other side, and bolster participants’ faith in democracy — and their place in it — certainly seems like good news."
FiveThirtyEight
Data for Progress
Suraj Patel: New York's 12th Congressional District
Slingshot managed and directed policy for Suraj Patel's 2018 campaign against longtime incumbent Carolyn Maloney. When Patel mounted a second challenge in 2020, Slingshot consulted on the campaign.
New York's 17th Congressional District
Brooklyn, New York
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