Public Policy Polling facts for kids
 |
|
| Private | |
| Industry | Opinion polling |
| Founded | 2001 Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Founder | Dean Debnam |
| Headquarters |
2912 Highwoods Boulevard, Suite 201
,
Raleigh, North Carolina U.S.
|
|
Area served
|
United States |
|
Key people
|
Tom Jensen (Director) |
Public Policy Polling (PPP) is an American company that conducts surveys, also known as polling. They are connected with the Democratic Party. The company was started in 2001 by a businessman named Dean Debnam.
PPP is located in Raleigh, North Carolina, in the U.S.. Dean Debnam passed away in 2024. Today, Tom Jensen is the director of Public Policy Polling.
Besides serious political topics, PPP has also done surveys on funny subjects. For example, they asked if Barack Obama would go to heaven. They also polled if hipsters should pay a special tax. Another survey asked if Ted Cruz was the Zodiac Killer.
Contents
Polling in Elections
2008 Elections
Public Policy Polling became well-known during the 2008 Democratic primary elections. These elections were between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. PPP did a great job, making very accurate predictions.
Their polls were correct in many states, like South Carolina and Wisconsin. Other polling companies often got these states wrong. After the main election in November, the Wall Street Journal newspaper ranked PPP highly. They said PPP was one of the two most accurate companies for predicting results in important states.
2010 Elections
PPP was the first company to show Scott Brown leading in a special election in Massachusetts. He was running against Martha Coakley for a Senate seat. Scott Brown ended up winning, which was a big surprise. PPP's final poll for that race predicted his winning margin exactly.
2011 Elections
In 2011, PPP was praised by the website politico.com in two articles. They were recognized for being very accurate in predicting primary and special elections. These types of elections are usually very hard to predict correctly.
PPP accurately predicted the winners in several important races. These included the West Virginia governor primaries. They also correctly called special elections in New York and California. Plus, they were right about all eight recall elections in Wisconsin.
2012 Elections
A study by Fordham University looked at 28 different polling companies. The study found that PPP had the most accurate poll for the national popular vote in the presidential election. This was true for their own polls and for polls they did with Daily Kos and the SEIU.
PPP correctly predicted the winner of the presidential election in all 19 states they polled in the last week. They also correctly called the winners of all the U.S. Senate and governor races they surveyed.
2014 Elections
A political research company called YouGov studied polls from 2014. They found that PPP's polls for governor races were very accurate. Among national companies that polled at least five governor races, PPP had the smallest average error.
2016 Elections
In the 2016 Presidential Election, PPP's final polls were not as accurate in some key states. They missed the mark in New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Their polls also greatly underestimated President Trump's lead in Ohio. They also incorrectly predicted that Hillary Clinton would win Florida.
