FOLLOW TWITTER TRENDS and cable news discussion, and you’d think the Democratic base was all-in on the idea of abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Indeed, even national polling seemed to show Democrats headed in that direction, with a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll finding Democrats support abolishing ICE (43 percent) over keeping it (34 percent). Trump […]
Steve Koczela
Steve Koczela is the President of The MassINC Polling Group, where he has grown the organization from its infancy to a nationally known and respected polling provider. During the 2014 election cycle, MPG conducted election polling for WBUR, the continuation of a three-year partnership. Koczela again led the endeavor, producing polls which came within one point of the margin in both the Massachusetts gubernatorial and U.S. Senate Elections. He was also lead writer for Poll Vault, WBUR’s political reporting section during the 2014 Election Cycle.
He has led survey research programs for the U.S. Department of State in Iraq, in key states for President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, and has conducted surveys and polls on behalf of many private corporations. Koczela brings a deep understanding of the foundations of public opinion and a wide ranging methodological expertise. He earned U.S. Department of State recognition for his leading edge work on sample evaluation in post conflict areas using geospatial systems.
Koczela is frequent guest on WBUR as well as many other news and talk programs in Massachusetts and elsewhere. His polling analysis is often cited in local, state, and national media outlets. He currently serves as President of the New England Chapter of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (NEAAPOR). Koczela holds a Master’s degree in Marketing Research from the University of Wisconsin and is a veteran of the war in Iraq.
Posted inNews Analysis
Late Registration
Massachusetts is home to more than one hundred colleges and universities and is the birthplace of American democracy. (Yes, that’s right, Eagles fans.) Nonetheless, the State Supreme Judicial Court recently upheld a voter registration law that makes it harder for college students to vote in our state primary elections. The SJC upheld a rule requiring […]
Posted inPolitics
Are you there, Massachusetts? It’s me, the primaries
Ahhh, the Fourth of July. When we come together to commemorate the beginning of the grand experiment that is America, celebrating government for and by the people. And in Massachusetts – the birthplace of the revolution – the gravity of the moment is not lost on voters as they march toward the purest expression of […]
Posted inGun ownership
Voters give green light on “red flag” gun law
Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo announced this week the House would take up the so-called “red flag” gun safety bill. The move ended months of speculation and growing pressure from outside the building. The proposed legislation would “allow a judge to temporarily seize guns from someone who might pose a danger to themselves and others.” Eight states […]
Posted inPolitics
Governor, Senate challengers struggle mightily in quest for attention
A half dozen would-be opponents to Senator Elizabeth Warren and Governor Charlie Baker are building their campaigns, crisscrossing Massachusetts, issuing press releases, hiring staff, making ads, and doing all the other things important statewide campaigns do. Nobody’s watching. So far the two top-of-the-ticket would-be blockbusters have been busts, as voters hit the electoral snooze button […]
Posted inPolitics
State follows voters’ lead on criminal justice
The Senate and House sent a sweeping criminal justice reform bill to Governor Charlie Baker’s desk this week. The Governor has not said how he will proceed. Details matter, and there are a lot of them to parse, but the overall thrust of the bill is very much in keeping with what voters have said […]
Posted inOpinion
Down-ballot races heating up in Mass.
2018 WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE YEAR of blockbuster matchups in Massachusetts. The de facto leaders of both parties are running for reelection, offering the prospect of bruising contests for both the US Senate and the governor’s office. Instead, the two main event races are blowouts so far, while a bevy of interesting and important […]
Posted inPolitics
Gomez leaves GOP, eyes independent bid against Warren
GABRIEL GOMEZ, who ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate as a Republican in 2013, has switched his party affiliation to independent and is not ruling out a run against Sen. Elizabeth Warren this year, according to a source familiar with his thinking. Gomez said on WCVB’s On The Record this weekend that he had switched his voter registration […]
Posted inPolitics
Gomez still weighing Senate run
THE REPUBLICAN PRIMARY FIELD to take on US Sen. Elizabeth Warren next year now includes three candidates, but another contender is still eying the race. Businessman and former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez is meeting with potential advisors to chart a path forward and still closely considering his options, according to a source with direct knowledge […]
Posted inPolitics
NH voter fraud claims baffle Mass. officials
AT A MEETING of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity on Tuesday, New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner dismissed assertions by commission vice chair Kris Kobach that widespread voter fraud influenced the state’s 2016 presidential and senate races. “The problem that has occurred because of what you wrote is that – the question […]