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.
David Shor Professional Experience / Academic History
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.