What The Mellman Group does

The Mellman Group is a Washington, D.C.-based political polling and strategic consulting firm founded in 1980 by Mark Mellman. The company serves Democratic political candidates and campaigns, public interest and advocacy organizations, and Fortune 500 corporations with opinion research, message development, campaign strategy, and ad testing services. Its core product suite comprises Survey Analysis (rigorous national and state-level polling including cell phone sampling and repeated voter contact attempts), Focus Groups (qualitative voter research), and additional methodologies covering experimental ad testing, tracking polls, and advanced microtargeting for voter segmentation. The firm has built its reputation on polling accuracy and has been named Pollster of the Year by the American Association of Political Consultants three times (2008, 2011, 2013).

The Mellman Group operates as a boutique professional services firm with a high-touch, enterprise field sales go-to-market model. Revenue is generated through project-based consulting engagements negotiated directly with clients; pricing is not publicly disclosed and engagements are typically structured as multi-year contracts. The firm has no venture capital or private equity backing, no parent company, and no disclosed subsidiaries. Its distribution is exclusively direct: client acquisition is driven by personal networks, industry reputation, referrals, and earned media coverage in outlets such as The New York Times, Washington Post, and Politico. Geographic footprint is primarily U.S.-based with selective international engagements in Israel and Albania. Following founder Mark Mellman's passing in 2025, the firm continues to operate under new leadership while maintaining its 40+ year methodology and client relationships.

Name

The Mellman Group

Legal name

Mellman Group, Inc.

Website

https://mellmangroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Mellman Group is a Washington, D.C.-based political polling and consulting firm serving Democratic candidates, advocacy organizations, and Fortune 500 corporations with opinion research, message testing, and campaign strategy services. It is a boutique, founder-led firm operating for over 40 years.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Political Consulting and Polling

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Think Tanks, Policy Research & Public Policy Institutes (BPAGAFAO)

Keywords

• Political polling services
• Campaign strategy consulting
• Voter opinion research
• Ballot initiative research
• Public affairs strategy

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Political Campaign Consulting: The firm provides polling, strategic consulting, and campaign advice to political candidates and party committees. Services include message development, ad testing, voter research, and campaign strategy for elections at federal, state, and local levels.
2. Public Affairs and Issue Advocacy Research: Research-based strategy for public interest organizations, advocacy groups, and corporations on policy issues, ballot initiatives, and public campaigns.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Mellman Group provides opinion research, political polling, message development, ad testing, microtargeting, and campaign strategy consulting to Democratic political candidates, party committees, advocacy organizations, ballot initiative campaigns, and corporations. Services are delivered as custom multi-year engagements focused on transforming quantitative research into winning electoral, legislative, and public-affairs strategies.

Product overview

The Mellman Group is a political polling and research firm offering a unified suite of opinion research services. The core offerings include Survey Analysis, Focus Groups, and Other Technologies and Methodologies, which together enable clients to understand voter attitudes, test campaign messages, and develop winning strategies for political campaigns, ballot initiatives, and public affairs efforts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Never lost an incumbent re-election for Governor or U.S. Senate
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Alliance for American ManufacturingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Mellman Group partnered with Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) and North Star Opinion Research to develop strategic positioning for AAM's efforts to revive American manufacturing. Research identified voter support for manufacturing policy and led to legislative victories including currency manipulation protections and manufacturing incentives.
• North Star Opinion ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Republican pollster Whit Ayres (North Star Opinion Research) on bipartisan manufacturing policy research that shaped Democratic legislative agenda.
• Yesh Atid Party (Israel)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerServed as general consultant, strategist, and pollster for Yesh Atid Party in Israel, helping the new party become the second largest in Knesset in one year.
• Luzlim Basha for Mayor (Tirana, Albania)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerServed as general consultant and pollster for Luzlim Basha's mayoral campaign in Tirana, Albania, winning against a three-term incumbent who was named world's top mayor in 2004.
• GMMB (Media Consultants)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerWorked with GMMB as media consultants on multiple campaigns including Senator Harry Reid, Maryland Question 7, and other victories.
• Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHandled DSCC's extensive independent expenditure campaign programs, including Senate races for Reid, Boxer, Manchin, and others.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Global Strategy Group: Democratic-aligned polling and strategic communications firm serving political, corporate, and advocacy clients — the closest direct competitor in size, methodology, and client roster to The Mellman Group.
• Benenson Strategy Group: Polling and strategic consulting firm working with Democratic campaigns and Fortune 500 clients, comparable in offering the integration of research into campaign and corporate strategy.
• Hart Research Associates: Long-established Democratic polling firm with a comparable blue-chip corporate client base and similar survey methodology focus, often co-vetted for corporate polling work against The Mellman Group.
• Lake Research Partners: Boutique Democratic polling and strategy firm focused on issue advocacy, ballot initiatives, and progressive coalitions — overlapping heavily with Mellman's advocacy and initiative work.
• Public Policy Polling: Publicly visible public opinion polling firm publishing regular state and national surveys for political and media clients — overlapping on the polling and message-testing methodology core.
• Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research: Democratic polling and research firm serving campaigns, parties, foundations and corporations, with comparable methodology and a similar mix of electoral and public-affairs engagements.
• ALG Research (combined alias): Modern integrated political consulting shop blending polling, paid media, and digital — competing with Mellman on full-service Democratic engagements where Mellman must partner with media firms.
• Anzalone Liszt Grove Research (ALG): Top-tier Democratic polling firm with deep relationships among federal and state-level Democratic campaigns and progressive advocacy organizations, directly competing for the same survey-based engagements.

Emerging players

• North Star Opinion Research: Republican-leaning polling firm led by Whit Ayres that has explicitly partnered with The Mellman Group on bipartisan work, making it a peer in methodology and a frequent cross-aisle counterpart on corporate research.

Broad incumbents

• Marist Poll: University-affiliated nationally recognized polling operation (now part of NPR/PBS NewsHour) running public opinion surveys across political and corporate topics — comparable in survey methodology and brand credibility.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-mellman-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 The Mellman Group