Democratic polling firms Anzalone Liszt Research and Grove Insight have merged to form Anzalone Liszt Grove Research. The principals at both firms announced the merger on Tuesday.
John Anzalone, Jeff Liszt and Lisa Grove were all part of President Obama’s 2012 polling team. Anzalone Liszt Research polled in Virginia, Florida and Nevada—all of which went for Obama—while Grove Insight ran focus groups for female voters.
“You get to know people in this business and admire people,” Anzalone tells C&E of his company's decision to merge with Grove. “You say, ‘They approach polling like me,’ and that was evident when we first met.”
Going into the merger, each firm's client list had a distinctly different flavor. Anzalone-Liszt clients skew Midwest, South and feature what's left of the party's Blue Dogs. Grove’s client list leans West and progressive. Grove Insight is known for its issue advocacy polling while Anzalone Liszt Research worked on both Obama presidential campaigns.
“They have really top notch senior staff, and that’s one of the things that makes me feel proud to be part of this operation,” says Grove. “They have a really deep bench.”
Client offerings for the new firm include landline and mobile phone polling, live focus groups, web-based ad testing and heat mapping. On the list of the firm’s early projects: working with the American Federation of Labor in several states, Ohio’s recently repealed collective bargaining law and on gay marriage campaigns in a handful of states.
The firm will have offices in Washington, D.C., New York City, Lana’i City, Hawaii, and Montgomery, Ala.