Pollster · Academic

University of Massachusetts Department of Political Science

Also published as UMass Amherst.

Research draft
Polls since 2024
21
Latest poll ended
October 12, 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.

The UMass Poll at the University of Massachusetts Amherst says it has produced public opinion polls since 2010 and lists Tatishe M. Nteta as director, with Ray La Raja, Jesse Rhodes and Alexander Theodoridis as co-directors.2 Its methodology page says the poll partners with YouGov, drawing samples from YouGov's member panel and matching them to a frame of U.S. adults.3 Its Massachusetts polls carry the name UMass Amherst/WCVB Poll in university releases from 2021 and 2022 and in crosstabs from August 2026.4,5,6

Kind
Academic2

§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

  • University of Massachusetts Amherst. Its about page describes the UMass Poll as part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.2

News partners

  • WCVB-TV. University releases from November 2021 and June 2022 and the August 2026 crosstabs name the poll the UMass Amherst/WCVB Poll; no start date or terms were found.4,5,6

Fieldwork or panel by

  • YouGov. The methodology page says the poll partners with YouGov for its samples, and the August 2026 crosstabs say YouGov interviewed the Massachusetts respondents.3,6

Led by

  • Tatishe M. Nteta. The about page lists Tatishe M. Nteta as director of the UMass Poll.2

Published with

Names its polls have been published under, alongside other pollsters or news outlets.

  • University of Massachusetts Department of Political Science/YouGov: YouGov · 27 polls listed
  • UMass Amherst/YouGov: YouGov · 5 polls listed

Who paid for its polls

Sponsors named on its polls, most polls first7. A party-aligned flag is VoteHub's, per poll.
SponsorPollsBetweenFlagged party-aligned
WCVB-TV17May 9, 2022 – October 12, 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.

Says it does no work for parties or candidates. The UMass Poll home page lists Non-Partisan among the poll's features; the pages read do not say whether it works for candidates or parties.8

Of its 21 polls listed since the 2024 election, VoteHub flags 0 as paid for by a Democratic-aligned sponsor and 0 by a Republican-aligned sponsor7.

§4Record against results

Why this matters: The one test that doesn't depend on other polls: how close a firm's final polls came to what voters did.

From FiveThirtyEight's final public data9,10: general-election polls between a Democrat and a Republican in the last three weeks before each election, compared with the certified result. FiveThirtyEight rated each name polls were published under separately. Across all 8,957 such polls, the average miss was D+0.7, so the relative figure takes out the misses every pollster shared that year.

Error is the poll's D−R margin minus the result's; D+ means it showed Democrats doing better than they did.
Published asPollsElectionsAverage missRelative to other pollsTypical size of miss538's last rating
University of Massachusetts Department of Political Science22000R+4.4R+0.64.4 ptsNot graded (inactive)
University of Massachusetts Department of Political Science/YouGov0————2.4 of 3

ABC News closed FiveThirtyEight in March 2025; its data stops at the 2022 elections. 2026 results will be added once states certify them.

§5Its polls

The 32 polls of its we list, newest first.
In the fieldQuestionResultWithPaid for bySample
October 5–October 12, 2026U.S. Senate · 2026 MassachusettsEd Markey 56 · John Deaton 29 · Shriya Ayyadurai 6 · Joe Tache 3YouGovWCVB-TV800 RV
October 5–October 12, 2026Governor · 2026 MassachusettsMaura Healy 57 · Michael Minogue 32 · Andrea James 6YouGovWCVB-TV800 RV
August 5–August 12, 2026U.S. Senate · 2026 MassachusettsEd Markey 51 · John Deaton 30YouGovWCVB-TV800 RV
August 5–August 12, 2026Governor · 2026 MassachusettsMaura Healy 53 · Brian Shortsleeve 33YouGovWCVB-TV800 RV
August 5–August 12, 2026U.S. Senate · 2026 MassachusettsSeth Moulton 49 · John Deaton 25YouGovWCVB-TV800 RV
March 20–March 25, 2026Job approval · CongressDisapprove 69 · Approve 19YouGov1,000 A
March 20–March 25, 2026Job approval · Supreme CourtDisapprove 50 · Approve 35YouGov1,000 A
March 20–March 25, 2026Job approval · Donald TrumpDisapprove 62 · Approve 33YouGov1,000 A
October 21–October 29, 2025Governor · 2026 MassachusettsMaura Healey 49 · Mike Kennealy 27YouGovWCVB-TV800 A
October 21–October 29, 2025Governor · 2026 MassachusettsMaura Healey 48 · Brian Shortsleeve 27YouGov800 A
October 21–October 29, 2025Governor · 2026 MassachusettsMaura Healey 51 · Mike Minogue 26YouGov800 A
October 16–October 20, 2025Favorability · Donald TrumpUnfavorable 51 · Favorable 38YouGov1,000 A
October 16–October 20, 2025Favorability · JD VanceUnfavorable 44 · Favorable 36YouGov1,000 A
October 16–October 20, 2025Job approval · Donald TrumpDisapprove 58 · Approve 42YouGov1,000 A
October 16–October 20, 2025Generic congressional ballot · 2026Dem 38 · Rep 35YouGov1,000 A
July 25–July 30, 2025Job approval · Donald TrumpDisapprove 58 · Approve 38YouGov1,000 A
April 4–April 9, 2025Job approval · Donald TrumpDisapprove 51 · Approve 44YouGovWCVB-TV1,000 A
April 4–April 9, 2025Job approval · Supreme CourtDisapprove 48 · Approve 38YouGovWCVB-TV1,000 A
April 4–April 9, 2025Job approval · CongressDisapprove 57 · Approve 29YouGovWCVB-TV1,000 A
February 14–February 20, 2025Governor · 2026 MassachusettsMaura Healey 40 · Mike Kennealy 15YouGovWCVB-TV700 A
February 14–February 20, 2025Governor · 2026 MassachusettsMaura Healey 44 · Brian Shortsleeve 12YouGovWCVB-TV700 A
July 29–August 1, 2024Job approval · CongressDisapprove 65 · Approve 23YouGovWCVB-TV1,000 RV
July 29–August 1, 2024Job approval · Supreme CourtDisapprove 51 · Approve 39YouGovWCVB-TV1,000 RV
January 25–January 30, 2024Job approval · Supreme CourtDisapprove 48 · Approve 41YouGovWCVB-TV1,064 A
January 25–January 30, 2024Job approval · CongressDisapprove 62 · Approve 26YouGovWCVB-TV1,064 A
May 31–June 8, 2023Job approval · Supreme CourtDisapprove 47 · Approve 41YouGov1,133 A
May 31–June 8, 2023Job approval · CongressDisapprove 59 · Approve 28YouGov1,133 A
January 5–January 9, 2023Job approval · Supreme CourtDisapprove 46 · Approve 42YouGov1,000 A
January 5–January 9, 2023Job approval · CongressDisapprove 58 · Approve 28YouGov1,000 A
May 5–May 9, 2022Job approval · Supreme CourtDisapprove 54 · Approve 33YouGovWCVB-TV1,000 A
May 5–May 9, 2022Job approval · CongressDisapprove 67 · Approve 19YouGovWCVB-TV1,000 A
December 14–December 20, 2021Job approval · CongressDisapprove 65 · Approve 21YouGov1,000 A

§6What we looked for and didn't find

  • No founding year was recorded: the pages read give 2010 as the start of the poll, not of the department or a polling unit.
  • No start date or terms were found for the WCVB arrangement.
  • Funding is not stated on the pages read.
  • No non-news clients, co-pollsters, campaign or party clients were found.
  • Findings search: web searches combining the name with AAPOR, aggregator exclusion, court, regulator and retraction terms found nothing that fits the finding rules, and AAPOR's statements page names none of this batch's firms.
  • Court records were checked only through web searches; PACER and state court dockets were not searched.