Political Data & Voter Analytics
Your vote is a product
Political Data Brokers: Your Vote is a Product
An entire sub-industry of data brokers exists to serve political campaigns, PACs, and advocacy organizations. These companies build detailed voter profiles by merging voter registration files with consumer data, social media activity, and purchase behavior. In 2020, federal campaigns, super PACs, and special interest groups paid 37 different data brokers at least $23 million for data and services access.[1] By the 2024 cycle, total political advertising hit nearly $11 billion, with $1.9 billion spent on digital platforms alone — a 156% increase over 2020 levels.[2]
L2 Political (Labels & Lists, Inc.)
What they are: Non-partisan voter data provider. For nearly 50 years, L2 has set the standard for voter file quality, giving national-to-local campaigns, consultants, pollsters, PACs, and other organizations the ability to reach only the voters they need.[3]
What data they have: National voter file with a 250 million+ record adult database. Over 600 consumer, voter, and behavioral attributes available for targeting. Voter data is appended with phone numbers (from seven national sources with 80% coverage), email addresses, physical addresses, social media profiles, cookies, and device IDs. Mailing addresses are run against the NCOA database every 30 days.[3]
Data sources: Publicly available voter files from each state, standardized into a unified format. Collects data from minor and major elections, parties, districts, credit bureaus, telecom companies, and government sources.
Platform: Web-based, also available on the Snowflake Data Marketplace. Used across the political spectrum by campaigns, academics, and political consultants.
TargetSmart
What they are: Democratic-aligned full-service data solutions company. Has built what they claim is the industry’s best voter database since 2004. Registered in the California CPPA data broker registry.[4]
What data they have: VoterBase contains contact and voting information on 208+ million voters from all 50 states and DC, plus 53 million unregistered voting-age consumers. Claims 171 million highly accurate cell phone numbers for digital matching and direct contact.[4]
Products: TargetSmart MBP (all-in-one media buying platform), voter file enhanced with consumer data overlays for targeting and modeling.
i360
What they are: Republican-aligned data platform backed by Koch Industries. Founded by Michael Palmer, former chief technology officer of John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, and later merged with Themis, a Koch-funded nonprofit voter database project.[5] Dubbed “the Koch data mine” by Politico. The Kochs subsidize i360 by undercharging clients such as the National Rifle Association and numerous Republican candidates.[6]
What data they have: Database of 290+ million consumers, 199 million of which are active voters, with up to 1,800 data points per record — including ethnicity, religion, occupation, hobbies, shopping habits, political leanings, financial assets, marital status, medical conditions, and which advertising mediums are most effective for each individual.[6]
Catalist LLC
What they are: For-profit corporation based in Washington, D.C., operating a voter database for progressive causes. Founded to serve as the central data repository for the progressive movement. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Catalist served as the principal data repository for the Democratic Party, working with over 90 progressive organizations including the SEIU, the DNC, and the Obama campaign.[7]
What data they have: Compiles, enhances, stores, and dynamically updates data on 256+ million unique voting-age individuals across all 50 states and DC.[8] Data is drawn from public records, pollsters, campaign information, nonprofit groups, unions, political parties, and commercial sources.
Data Trust
What they are: Founded in 2011 as the core infrastructure provider for major organizations supporting federal and local conservative campaigns — the GOP’s counterpart to Catalist on the left. Leading Republicans created Data Trust as an independent for-profit information warehouse with an exclusive data-sharing agreement with the Republican National Committee.[9]
What data they have: Tracks over 300 million individuals with 2,500+ unique data points, providing precise audience targeting and data-driven strategies for right-of-center clients.[9]
Scale: During the 2024 cycle, Data Trust supported more than 5,000 Republican campaigns, contributing to Republican victories in the presidential race and Congressional majorities.[9]
Aristotle International
What they are: Non-partisan global leader in political technology, consulting, data services, and analytics. Founded in 1983 by John Aristotle Phillips and Dean Aristotle Phillips, headquartered on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. For over 40 years, almost every U.S. president has used Aristotle’s solutions, in addition to countless senatorial and congressional campaigns.[10]
Products: Campaign Manager (cloud-based political campaign management for compliance, fundraising, and accounting), voter data, campaign compliance tools, and political intelligence with machine learning analytics.[10]
NGP VAN (Bonterra / Apax Partners)
What they are: The primary voter contact and data management platform for Democratic campaigns, used by the DNC, DCCC, and DSCC. In 2022, NGP VAN claimed to have raised and tracked over $10 billion while making roughly 1.4 billion voter contact attempts during the 2022 election cycle.[11]
Ownership: In August 2021, NGP VAN’s parent company EveryAction was acquired by Apax Partners, a London-based private equity firm. In March 2022, Apax merged EveryAction with several other nonprofit tech companies under the Bonterra umbrella, though NGP VAN retained its standalone brand.[12]
Saudi Arabia connection: In April 2023, The Intercept reported that Sanabil Investments — the entity that manages Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund — is an investor in Apax Partners, meaning the Saudi government has an indirect ownership stake in the firm that holds the Democratic Party’s most sensitive voter data.[13]
Layoffs: In early 2023, Bonterra laid off at least 140 employees (10% of the company), including staff across EveryAction and NGP VAN who held the Democratic Party’s most sensitive data. By October 2023, total layoffs exceeded 20% of the company, raising concerns among Democratic strategists about the impact of private equity ownership on campaign infrastructure ahead of the 2024 election.[14]
Deep Root Analytics / Tunnl
What they are: GOP-aligned media analytics firm co-founded in 2013 by Alex Lundry (data director for Romney 2012) and Sara Fagen (former White House political affairs director under George W. Bush).[15]
The 198 million voter data leak: On June 12, 2017, UpGuard security researcher Chris Vickery discovered that Deep Root Analytics had left 1.1 terabytes of data on a publicly accessible Amazon S3 server, exposing personal data of approximately 198 million voters — the largest voter data leak in history. The data included names, home addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, voter registration details, and “modeled” data on voter ethnicities and religions. The server was accessible by navigating to a six-character Amazon subdomain (“dra-dw”) without any password. The data had been exposed since June 1 and was secured on June 14.[16]
Current status: In 2020, Deep Root merged with TargetPoint Consulting, and Sara Fagen co-founded the Tunnl audience intelligence platform, where she serves as CEO. Tunnl gathers audience data using quarterly surveys of 5,000 consumers combined with national consumer and voter files. The company has expanded beyond political campaigns to serve corporate brands and trade associations involved in purpose-driven marketing and issue advocacy.[17]
DSPolitical
What they are: The leading digital partner for Democratic campaigns. Registered in the California CPPA data broker registry. Provides data licensing solutions for political, public affairs, and healthcare advertisers.[18]
Products: Deploy (programmatic advertising platform), data licensing, and voter targeting. Catalist data powered by DSPolitical is available via LiveRamp.
Grassroots Analytics
What they are: Left-leaning digital strategy and data technology firm based in Washington, DC. Founded in 2017. Received $2.1+ million from campaigns in 2020.[1]
What data they have: Claims 1,800 data points on 270+ million Americans, including a database of 20+ million left-leaning American donors with disposable income. These databases are used by campaigns, political organizations, and advocacy groups to target potential voters or contributors who never opted in. Has served over 1,000 campaigns.[19]
Statara Solutions
What they are: Data startup founded by Democratic tech leader Lindsey Schuh Cortes. Registered as a data broker in California. Focuses on using data to make politics local and personalized, and has expanded from Democratic political data into corporate data services.
Political Data, Inc. (PDI)
What they are: California-focused voter data provider. Specializes in providing granular voter files and contact data for campaigns operating in California’s complex political landscape.
Cambridge Analytica and the $5 Billion Reckoning
Cambridge Analytica (defunct)
How they did it: In 2014, data scientist Aleksandr Kogan, through his company Global Science Research (GSR), developed a personality-quiz Facebook application called “This Is Your Digital Life.” Approximately 270,000 users took the quiz and consented to share their data for “academic purposes.” But the app’s permissions also allowed it to harvest data from those users’ entire Facebook friend networks — collecting locations, genders, ages, “likes,” and friend lists from people who never consented. Kogan then sold that data to Cambridge Analytica through GSR. In total, the personal data of up to 87 million Facebook users was harvested for political profiling.[20]
Political use: Cambridge Analytica, a subsidiary of the UK-based SCL Group (which had previously conducted “psychological operations” campaigns globally), used the data to build psychographic profiles of American voters and target them with tailored political advertising during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The scandal broke in March 2018 when The Guardian and The New York Times published exposés based on revelations from whistleblower Christopher Wylie.[21]
Shutdown: On May 1, 2018, Cambridge Analytica and its parent company SCL Group filed for insolvency and ceased operations, citing a “siege of media coverage” that drove away its customers.[21]
The $5 Billion Facebook Fine
In July 2019, the FTC imposed a $5 billion penalty on Facebook — the largest ever imposed on any company for violating consumers’ privacy, and nearly 20 times greater than the largest privacy or data security penalty previously assessed.[22] The FTC found that Facebook had violated a 2012 consent order by deceiving users about their ability to control the privacy of their personal information. The settlement included sweeping new restrictions on Facebook’s data practices and a modified corporate structure designed to hold the company accountable for privacy decisions.[22]
In a separate action, the FTC sued Cambridge Analytica, its former CEO Alexander Nix, and Aleksandr Kogan for using “false and deceptive tactics” to harvest personal information from millions of Facebook users. Kogan and Nix agreed to administrative orders restricting their future business activities and requiring them to delete collected personal information. Cambridge Analytica, having filed for bankruptcy, did not settle the FTC’s allegations.[23]
Lasting Regulatory Impact
The Cambridge Analytica scandal accelerated data protection legislation worldwide. The EU accelerated enforcement of GDPR, then enacted the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act. Countries from India to Brazil drafted new data protection laws. Some platforms banned political ads entirely (Twitter/X), while Google reduced ad targeting options and Facebook added opt-out tools. API restrictions, privacy dashboards, and data breach notification requirements were strengthened worldwide. A new “digital influence industry” combining psychology, behavioral science, data analytics, and digital advertising permanently transformed how campaigns are run.[24]
How Political Data Brokers Compile Voter Profiles
Where they get voter data: State voter registration files (which are public records in most states), merged with consumer data from brokers like Acxiom, Experian, and Data Axle, plus social media behavior, donation records, petition signatures, and survey responses.[25]
The compilation process works in six layers:
1. Base layer — Voter files: State voter registration files (public records in most states) containing names, addresses, party affiliation, and voting history.
2. Enhancement: Data brokers like L2, TargetSmart, or i360 purchase and clean county voter files, standardize field names, and merge with commercial data from Acxiom, Experian, Data Axle, and others.
3. Consumer data overlay: Credit bureau data, shopping habits, hobbies, financial information, demographics, and behavioral profiles are appended — up to hundreds or even 1,800+ additional fields per record.[6]
4. Modeling and scoring: Predictive models generate scores on partisanship, turnout likelihood, and positions on specific issues (gun control, same-sex marriage, healthcare, immigration, and more).
5. Digital matching: Device IDs, cookies, social media accounts, and email addresses are matched to voter records for digital targeting.
6. Campaign usage: Campaigns use enhanced files for door-knocking lists, targeted digital ads, direct mail, phone banking, and fundraising appeals.
Who buys it: Political campaigns, PACs, super PACs, advocacy organizations, pollsters, and political consultants. In the 2024 election, approximately 65% of voters believed consumer data should never reach the hands of political advertisers, yet spending on data-driven digital targeting reached record levels.[2]