Data for Progress

data for politics #24: The IDC Challengers and Cynthia Nixon

By Kevin Morris (@ktnmorris)

Over here at Data for Progress, we’re still celebrating the imminent demise of the Independent Democratic Caucus. On September 13, voters in New York City roundly defeated five of the six members of the IDC facing reelection bids. There’s already talk about the progressive legislation that might finally start making its way through Albany with the arrival of a true Democratic majority in the state senate - improved access to the ballot, stricter campaign finance laws, stronger rent regulation, and more.

Guest UserSeptember 27, 2018Elections

data for politics #23: Analyzing How Americans Think About Free College

By Hannah Gorman (@SanFranHan)

The polling Data for Progress shared on the New Progressive Agenda showed an exciting trend: support for progressive policies cuts across party, ideology, and 2016 presidential choices. Reading through the results, I wondered if there were differences in how these groups thought about the policies presented, given the sharp divisions in debate we see elsewhere. I dug into the open ended text responses from the survey to see if they shed light on why people respond to the policy the way they do.

Guest UserSeptember 20, 2018Education, Guest Writers

data for politics #22: What happened in the NY-14?

By Kevin Morris (@ktnmorris)

In June, the NY-14 became perhaps the most famous congressional district in the country. On June 26th, 28 year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez bested Joe Crowley in the district’s federal primary. Ocasio-Cortez ran on an unabashedly progressive platform, calling for Medicare for all, the abolishment of ICE, and a federal jobs guarantee. She has been heralded as the face of the insurgent left, demonstrating the potency of progressive policy among the Democratic base.

So what the hell happened on September 13?

Guest UserSeptember 19, 2018Elections

data demystified #3: A Deep Dive Into the Distribution of Progressive Ideology

By: Kevin Reuning (@KevinReuning)

In our previous DFP blog, Anne Whitesell and I explored predicted levels of support using latent variables that we made with DFP’s “Polling the Left Agenda” survey. This is not the only way of examining the data generated with the latent model. We can also look at the general ideology of individuals from the survey as well as well how progressive or conservative an issue is.

Data DemystifiedGuest UserSeptember 18, 2018

Data for Politics #21: The Day After

By Kevin Morris (@ktnmorris)

Well, machine politics are alive and well in New York State, as yesterday’s primary election showed. In a race described by the New York Times Editorial Board as “dirty politics, nearly as sleazy as it gets,” incumbent Andrew Cuomo falsely accusing his opponent, Cynthia Nixon, of antisemitism. He also “enticed” builders of the new Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge to rush its opening, placing politics above safety. These stories were just from the last week of the campaign, yet he sailed on to win the Democratic primary for governor. Jumaane Williams lost his bid for Lieutenant Governor, as did Zephyr Teachout for attorney general. Blegh.

We’ll be puzzling over the results for weeks to come - and that’s before we even get information about who actually voted from the state next month.

Data for PoliticsGuest UserSeptember 14, 2018Elections

data for politics #20: A #MeToo Effect? Attitudes About Gender Equality and Workplace Harassment

By Meredith Conroy (@sidney_b), Alexander Agadjanian (@A_agadjanian) and Hayley Cohen (@HayleyCohen)

Over the weekend the news broke that CBS Chairman and CEO, Les Moonves, would step down from his position, following allegations of sexual harassment and assault by several women, spanning many years. The flood of sexual harassment allegations against mostly powerful men in business, media, politics, and entertainment have largely come to be associated with the #MeToo movement, which is a movement that encourages women to publicly acknowledge or express their experiences with sexual harassment. The origin of “Me too” stems from the work of activist Tarana Burke who has worked with young women of color survivors for years; the hashtag was popularized online by actor Alyssa Milano last October.

Data for PoliticsGuest UserSeptember 11, 2018Justice

data for politics #19: Young Voters, Not Gentrification, Drove Ocasio-Cortez’s Victory

By: Kevin Morris (@ktnmorris)

A couple weeks ago on the blog, I took a look at who voted in the June 26th federal primaries in New York City. The trend was clear: younger voters supported challengers to incumbents across the board, and helped propel Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to a long-shot win over Representative Joseph Crowley. We talked about how voting laws that fall heavily on younger voters are deeply problematic not only because they limit access to the franchise, but also because they may be having electoral impacts.

Data for PoliticsGuest UserSeptember 6, 2018Elections