Pollster · News outlet

RealClear Opinion Research

Research draft
Polls since 2024
3
Latest poll ended
January 11, 2026

Polls from the VoteHub polling API, used under CC BY 4.0. Each result links to the pollster's or sponsor's own release. Imported once a day; a poll VoteHub later changes keeps its earlier version on record here.

§1About

Drafted by AI from the public sources cited. Each sentence links to its source.

RealClear Opinion Research is a public opinion research unit of RealClear Media Group, which its October 2018 launch announcement says owns RealClearPolitics and related RealClear sites.1,2 The announcement says it would measure public opinion for clients through surveys, polling, social media analytics and proprietary technology under John Della Volpe, then director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics.2 According to a RealClearPolitics article, its April 10 to 12, 2025 national survey of 1,000 registered voters was directed by Spencer Kimball, director of Emerson College Polling.3

Kind
News outlet1,2
Founded
20181,2

§2Who it works with

Why this matters: Owners, news partners and the firms behind a poll's interviews shape what gets asked, how, and what gets published.

Part of

  • RealClear Media Group (2018–now). The RealClear Media Group site presents RealClear Opinion Research as one of its units, launched in 2018.1,2

Polls regularly for

  • Unite America. A RealClear Opinion Research memo addressed to Unite America says the group sponsored a national survey of 1,500 registered voters fielded January 9 to 11, 2026 by text-to-web and an online panel matched to the voter file.4

Led by

  • John Della Volpe (2018–now). The October 2018 launch announcement says John Della Volpe would lead the unit; its current page names no leader.1,2

Who paid for its polls

Sponsors named on its polls, most polls first5. A party-aligned flag is VoteHub's, per poll.
SponsorPollsBetweenFlagged party-aligned
Unite America1January 11, 2026No

§3Whom it works for

Why this matters: A firm that also works for one party's campaigns can still publish accurate polls, but readers deserve to know.

Doesn’t say whom it works for. Neither its page on the RealClear Media Group site nor the 2018 launch announcement says whether it works for candidates or parties.1,2

Of its 3 polls listed since the 2024 election, VoteHub flags 0 as paid for by a Democratic-aligned sponsor and 0 by a Republican-aligned sponsor5.

§4Its polls

The 3 polls of its we list, newest first.
In the fieldQuestionResultWithPaid for bySample
January 9–January 11, 2026Job approval · Donald TrumpDisapprove 50 · Approve 40Unite America1,500 RV
April 10–April 12, 2025Job approval · Donald TrumpApprove 44 · Disapprove 441,000 RV
April 10–April 12, 2025Generic congressional ballot · 2026Dem 40 · Rep 391,000 RV

§5What we looked for and didn't find

  • No current leader was found; whether Della Volpe still leads the unit is not known.
  • Whether Emerson College Polling or Spencer Kimball directs its surveys beyond the April 2025 one was not found.
  • The sources read name no panel or texting vendor for its surveys.
  • The RealClearPolitics article and the DocSend copy of the Unite America release returned 403 errors; the article was read through a Yahoo News copy and the memo through a copy posted by Gongwer News Service.
  • Searches found no AAPOR statement, court ruling or filing, regulator action, aggregator statement about excluding or reweighting its polls, or retraction by the firm.
  • The Silver Bulletin ratings table and the VoteHub methodology pages were not read, so aggregator checks rest on searches of published text.