Polling: What to Expect

Polling tells you what's true instead of what the loudest voices say. PolitiFast offers polling as a scoped service: express interest from your Services page and the team designs something that fits your race and budget.

What campaign polling is for

• Name identification — how many voters actually know who you are. (For most challengers the honest answer is "fewer than you think," and it changes the whole plan.)
• Message testing — which of your arguments moves voters, and which of your opponent's arguments hurts.
• The horse race, honestly — where the contest really stands, so you spend the final weeks on the right universe.

When it pays for itself

Polling earns its cost when a decision hangs on the answer: which message leads your mail program, whether to go on offense, where to spend the last of the budget. If a poll wouldn't change what you do, you don't need it yet — and we'll tell you so.

A sentence on sample size

A properly drawn sample of a few hundred respondents describes your district within a stated margin of error — it's statistics, not magic, and a good pollster will show you the math.

How to start

Polling is scoped case by case — there's no rate card. On your campaign's Services page, express interest and the team will reach out to talk about your district, timing, and what you need to learn. Nothing bills until you've approved a scope.