David Shor

David Shor

Formal First Name
David
Dates
1991 - present

David Shor is Head of Data Science at Blue Rose Research, a political data firm with over 100 clients that conducts tens of millions of interviews a year. Shor is a renowned data scientist and political analyst known for his pioneering work in election science. With a background in political data analytics and a proven track record of accurate electoral predictions, David has become a leading voice in understanding voter behavior and election dynamics. His work gained widespread recognition during his time with President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, where he developed sophisticated data models to inform campaign strategies. He has also worked closely with multiple Democratic presidential campaigns and his statistics-driven political analysis has been covered widely by major publications. Prior to joining Blue Rose, Shor worked as Head of Political Data Science with Civis Analytics for 7 years, where he operated the company's web-based survey and polling operation.

Professional Experience


Academic History

DATA SCIENCE & POLITICS

  • Shor is a leading data scientist, political consultant, and one of the Democratic Party’s most coveted and most controversial data gurus.

  • He was one of the field’s young stars, pioneering ways to survey huge numbers of Americans and experimentally test their reactions to messages and ads.

  • He is known for analyzing political polls and helping progressive groups around measurement, resource allocation, and content testing. 

  • His expertise spans statistical modeling, polling, and applying machine learning techniques to predict electoral outcomes.

  • Today, Shor continues to influence the field through his insightful analyses and contributions to public discourse on elections.


THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN

  • Shor joined the Barack Obama 2012 presidential campaign, working on the team that tracked international and external polls and developed forecasts.

  • He was responsible for building and maintaining the campaign's election forecasting system, which accurately predicted the outcome to within a point in every state.

  • He was also the primary input to the campaign's resource allocation decisions in the 2012 election.

  • He was described in New York Magazine as Obama's "In-House Nate Silver" for his work on the president's re-election campaign. 


CIVIS ANALYTICS

  • Shor oversaw a research and development program that interviewed millions of people for individual campaigns and electoral organizations.

  • He developed an automated forecasting product used by large swathes of Democratic party leadership to help them win.

  • He also worked in operationalizing and interpreting hundreds of large RCTs, and reduced Civis' unit costs by over an order of magnitude.

  • He advised a number of liberal political action committees during the 2020 United States elections.