Why It Matters

Any firm can say that they make a real difference for their clients; we’d rather let Grove Insight’s record speak for itself. Here are just a few of our favorite examples that illustrate how we help our clients succeed:

Initiative Wins (Defeating the Bad Initiatives, Passing the Good Ones)
With an unmatched win-loss record of 90 and 10* on ballot measures, initiatives and referenda, Grove Insight is the go-to firm. 2009 marked one of our proudest victories -- assisting our home state's progressive coalition in passing Measures 66 and 67, increasing taxes on large corporations and the richest households to fund schools and other critical services in Oregon. As the lead pollster for this effort, Grove Insight weighed in on every step of the process, helping to craft the message strategy that led to the first passage of a statewide tax increase in Oregon in decades.

In both 2006 and 2008, our polling provided the message strategy and targeting that that helped the Defend Oregon team win a landslide victory on statewide measures -- 10 for 10 in 2008 and nine for nine in 2006. Both years we helped defeat odious measures, sponsored largely by out-of-state special interests and many of which were qualified to the ballot by perennial initiative system-abuser Bill Sizemore. Taken together, these measures would have eviscerated Oregon’s education system; created more one-size-fits-all sentencing without addressing the root causes of crime; gutted essential public services (including healthcare); put first responders in harm’s way; undercut public servants’ ability to make voluntary contributions to their union or to charities; limited voters’ free speech rights; limited Oregonians’ ability to choose whom to select for the Oregon Supreme Court; and prevented teenage Oregonians from receiving the safe medical care they need.

The firm also helped pass five proactive measures in Oregon these same years, including returning fairness to local bond and levy elections by overturning Oregon's statewide "double majority" law (we are also proud to have helped defend Arizona from the same dumb idea in 2008), and enabling all Oregonians without health insurance coverage to participate in the state’s prescription drug bulk purchasing program.

*Grove Insight advised nearly all of these 10 losing campaigns not to move forward with their effort, based on our initial data and analysis that they could not win.

DCCC
Grove Insight was one of five teams in the nation tasked with the Independent Expenditure efforts for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee playing in a dozen key house races across the country. Working with team “D,” better known in inside circles as “Delta Force,” Grove Insight won critical House races in Connecticut, New York, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Arizona, propelling Democrats to their first majority on Capital Hill in a dozen years.

Project New West
Grove Insight is the lead pollster for Project New West (PNW). This organization, headed by leading Democrats in the region, is designed to understand and harness the new realities of the American West. Founded on the notion that the future of our country will be determined –- in large part –- by what happens in the West, PNW believes that whichever political party effectively harnesses the quickly changing voting trends and attitudes in this region in the upcoming presidential election will create a new dominance in American politics for years to come.

Grove Insight is helping Project New West uncover and understand Western voters’ attitudes, values, and priorities (with an in-depth analysis of Latino voters) and to create a comprehensive strategy and message thematic for Democrats to communicate with swing voters, as well as Democratic base voters. Grove Insight is pleased to be a lead player in this groundbreaking and visionary project. To date we have conducted focus groups and polls in Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Montana and Wyoming.

Senator Ron Wyden
In 1996, Lisa Grove helped seize a rare opportunity to pick up a Republican-held U.S. Senate seat vacated by Bob Packwood. Grove served as both Communications Director and lead pollster, helping Congressman Ron Wyden prevail in a knock-down-drag-out special election against Gordon Smith –- resulting in a critical Democratic pickup. Then, in 1998, Grove Insight helped re-elect U.S. Senator Ron Wyden by the largest margin an Oregon Democrat achieved in the 20th century. That record was shattered in 2004, when we successfully helped guide Senator Wyden to a second full term with the highest vote totals of any candidate in Oregon’s history.