Have you ever used PDI as a source for data on voters? If so, you will have found that upwards of 40% of the information is wrong. Now the good news—only Democrats and Progressives will be using this bad information. For candidates it is best to buy the voter list, on a disk, from the Registrar of Voters.
Now the California Republican Party is going to use an RNC approved firm and its data—i360. This firm is owned by GOP consultants. Several State GOP organization already use it—as does the San Diego Central Committee. It gets top grades.
Now the question is, will the CRP allow the Counties to use it, for free? Will the CRP allow our nominees to use it—for free? Or will this be used by the consultants to harm conservative’s candidates and help the Chad Mayes type of GOP candidates?
Looks like the Cancel Culture has come to the political data industry—none too soon.
Major political data firm shuts door on Republicans
by CHUCK McFADDEN, Capitol Weekly, 3/10/21
Democrats, who already enjoy an overwhelming lead in California voter registration, now have one more advantage over the state’s beleaguered Republicans.
Political Data Inc., a prominent California company that has supplied campaign data to Democratic and Republican contenders alike for three decades, announced recently it will henceforth only work for “progressives” and Democrats.
PDI is as well known in the political community as it is little known to the general public, and in the ferocious world of political campaigning, its Feb. 25 announcement caught the Capitol by surprise.
The move, however, apparently had been contemplated for some time.
“It’s something we’ve been thinking about for years,” said Paul Mitchell, vice president of PDI.
California Democrats have a huge advantage in voter registration.
The secretary of state’s office reports that as of Oct. 20, Democrats had 10,170,317 registered voters in California, or 46.1% of the total; Republicans had 5,334,323 registrants, or 24.2%. The Republicans narrowly eclipsed the 5,283,253 registrants who did not report a party affiliation.
Information on where Democratic or Republican voters are located, what they’re concerned about and their likelihood of going to the polls are among the vital factors considered by those who manage campaigns for candidates and causes. The data often includes such things as detailed profiles of ethnicity, income levels, past voting preferences, and geographic targeting of ZIP code and precinct areas. Without such information, campaigns may be wandering in a political wilderness.
At first glance, Political Data’s move appears to be classic inside politics. But to the degree that data drive campaign decisions, and campaign outcomes influence the day-to-day lives of Californians, the Democrats-only decision could be widely, if indirectly, felt.
Mitchell said stand-alone political data firms “are kind of outmoded.” It is becoming increasingly necessary to partner with technology companies to be effective, he said, and they are becoming more and more run by Democrats.
“It was a business decision, but ideologically, if pushed to choose, this is the way we went,” Mitchell said. “It’s going to be a challenge for Republicans.”
“I’m delighted by that decision,” said Garry South, a Los Angeles-based Democratic political consultant. “They made exactly the right decision. If Republicans and far-right conspiracy-mongers want to collect voter information, they can now damn well find another firm.”
“It is a sad sign of the times that so-called progressives could not allow a great company that for decades had served the needs of candidates of all political persuasions to continue to exist,” said Republican consultant Dave Gilliard, president of Gilliard Blanning & Associates of Rocklin.
Mitchell told Capitol Weekly that a Republican colleague, upon hearing the news that Political Data was going to work exclusively for Democrats, waxed philosophical.
“Well, that’s where the business is,” Mitchell reported him as saying.
