What GBAO does

GBAO is a Washington, DC-headquartered professional services firm specializing in public opinion research, polling, and strategic political counsel for the Democratic and progressive ecosystem. Founded in 2011 by Karl Agne, Jim Gerstein, and Michael Bocian, the approximately 30-person firm operates from offices in Washington, Wilmington, Chicago, and Albuquerque, with senior partners holding 25-30+ years of experience in Democratic polling and strategy.

The firm's product suite includes custom-designed surveys (via online, live phone, or text-to-web methodologies), moderated focus groups (with bilingual capability in English and Spanish and specialization in AAPI, Black, and Hispanic audiences), multivariate statistical analysis including regression and MaxDiff, asynchronous discussion boards (qualboards), online ad testing, and a press/media amplification service. Methodologically, GBAO differentiates itself through proprietary sampling and weighting approaches for hard-to-reach populations and a documented collaboration with NORC at the University of Chicago on correcting partisan response bias. Services are delivered through custom-built project designs led personally by named partners rather than junior staff.

Commercially, GBAO generates revenue through project-based professional services fees sold directly to clients - principally Democratic campaigns (federal, state, and local), national party committees (DCCC, DSCC, DGA, DLCC, Senate Majority PAC, House Majority PAC), progressive advocacy organizations (AARP, ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Everytown), labor unions (NEA, SEIU, AFL-CIO), ballot initiative campaigns, and media organizations including a recurring focus group series for the New York Times Opinion Pages under the Navigator Research banner. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and engagement terms are negotiated per project. The firm has worked across all 50 US states and selected international markets including Mexico, Colombia, and Israel.

Name

GBAO

Legal name

GBAO

Website

https://gbaostrategies.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

GBAO is a Washington, DC-based public opinion research and political strategy firm providing custom polling, focus groups, and strategic counsel to Democratic campaigns, party committees, progressive advocacy organizations, labor unions, and ballot initiative campaigns across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Political Campaign Research Services: GBAO provides polling, focus group, and strategic research services to Democratic political campaigns at the federal, state, and local levels. Revenue is generated through project-based consulting fees for research, message development, and strategic advice.
2. Advocacy and Nonprofit Organization Research: GBAO conducts public opinion research for progressive advocacy organizations, labor unions, and think tanks. Services include issue advocacy research, ballot initiative polling, and organizational strategic research.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

GBAO is a Democratic polling and political strategy firm that provides custom public opinion research and strategic counsel to Democratic candidates, advocacy organizations, labor unions, and party committees. Core offerings include custom-designed surveys (online, live calls, text, or mixed-mode), moderated focus groups, multivariate analysis (regression and MaxDiff), asynchronous discussion boards (qualboards), online ad testing, and press and media amplification services. Each project is custom-built and led by senior staff, with capabilities spanning voter modeling, message testing, demographic targeting, and multilingual research in English and Spanish.

Product overview

GBAO is a Democratic polling and political strategy firm offering a unified suite of research services. The core offerings include custom surveys, focus groups, multivariate analysis, discussion boards (qualboards), online ad testing, and press amplification. These services work together to help Democratic candidates, advocacy organizations, and progressive causes understand voter attitudes, develop messaging, and execute political campaigns.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Surveys
• Focus Groups
• Multivariate Analysis
• Discussion Boards (Qualboards)
• Online Ad Testing
• Press and Media Relations

Quantifiable outcome

• Flipped more than two dozen congressional districts from Republican to Democratic control
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers30 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Navigator ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGBAO co-leads the Navigator Research team with Margie Omero conducting monthly focus group series 'America in Focus' for the New York Times Opinion Pages. Navigator Research is an ongoing investigative project into public opinion on the country's top issues such as democratic reforms, 'Trump regret,' news consumption, and the economy. This partnership produces regular public opinion research that shapes progressive messaging.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hart Research Associates: Hart Research is a Democratic polling firm led by Jay Dunn and Daniel Huffman that competes for Senate, gubernatorial, and progressive advocacy research work, with an overlapping client roster of unions and environmental groups.
• Global Strategy Group: GSG is a Democratic-aligned research, branding, and communications firm that competes for ballot initiative polling, advocacy research, and progressive campaign engagements alongside GBAO.
• Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (GQR): GQR is a longstanding Democratic polling and strategic research firm founded by Stan Greenberg, directly competing for the same Democratic campaigns, party committees, and ballot initiative engagements that GBAO serves. Multiple former GQR alumni now sit on GBAO's leadership team.
• Public Opinion Strategies: POS is a top-tier Republican polling firm whose structural offerings (surveys, focus groups, message testing for campaigns and advocacy) mirror GBAO's, providing a market-structure and pricing comparable.

Others

• Pew Research Center: Pew is a nonpartisan research institution producing large-N survey research; it is comparable in methodological rigor but addresses academic/journalism audiences rather than campaign clients, serving as a brand and methodology reference point in the space.
• NORC at the University of Chicago: NORC is an independent research institution that partnered with GBAO on partisan response bias research — a methodological peer and infrastructure partner rather than direct campaign competitor.
• SKDKnickerbocker (SKDK): SKDK is a Democratic strategic communications and public affairs firm whose research arm competes for advocacy client work and shares an ecosystem of overlapping political clients with GBAO, though SKDK's primary offering is communications rather than polling.

Emerging players

• Equis Research: Equis is a Democratic-aligned research firm focused on Latino voter research, with overlapping methodology and partial overlap with GBAO's multicultural offering (notably Brian Grossman's prior work there).
• Change Research: Change Research is an online survey-focused public opinion firm that competes for lower-cost, faster-turn progressive and advocacy research, with a tech-enabled methodology that contrasts GBAO's traditional multi-modal approach.

Broad incumbents

• Morning Consult: Morning Consult is a scaled, enterprise-grade public opinion and market research firm providing syndicated tracking polls, branded research products, and custom surveys — it competes with GBAO for custom research dollars from large advocacy and corporate clients while operating at vastly greater scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/GBAOStrategies
• Facebookfacebook.com/GBAOStrategies
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gbao

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about GBAO