Pollster · Works for one party

Upswing Research

Research draft

Polls since 2024: 3
Latest poll ended: October 28, 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.

Upswing Research & Strategy, LLC describes itself on its website as a firm offering opinion research, digital influence work, strategic campaigns and work on ethical AI for clients ranging from companies to nonprofits and labor unions.¹ Its team page lists Ethan Smith as founding partner, says he lives in Washington, D.C., and says he previously worked at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and as caucus director of the Pennsylvania House Democratic Campaign Committee.² Its work page says that since 2020 it has supported more than 150 Democratic campaigns and more than 600 advocacy groups.³

Kind: Works for one party^1,3

§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.

Polls regularly for

Justice and Public Safety PAC. Its work page says it has done research for the Justice and Public Safety PAC for four years in district attorney races in Texas, Maine, Indiana and Pennsylvania.³

Founded by

Ethan Smith. Its team page lists Ethan Smith as founding partner.²

Who paid for its polls

Sponsors named on its polls, most polls first⁴. A party-aligned flag is VoteHub's, per poll.
Sponsor	Polls	Between	Flagged party-aligned
314 Action	2	May 5, 2026	Democratic-aligned sponsor (2)
Demand Justice	1	October 28, 2026	Democratic-aligned sponsor (1)

§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.

Works for Democratic candidates or groups. Its work page says it has supported more than 150 Democratic campaigns since 2020, and its home page lists the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Governors Association among its clients; none of the pages read names a Republican committee or campaign. This rests on its own description and the clients it names.^1,3

Democratic National Committee. Its home page lists the Democratic National Committee among organizations it says trust it.¹
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Its home page lists the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee among organizations it says trust it.¹
Democratic Governors Association. Its home page lists the Democratic Governors Association among organizations it says trust it.¹
Josh Shapiro (2022–now). Its work page describes work for Josh Shapiro's campaign for governor of Pennsylvania beginning in 2022.³
Summer Lee. Its work page describes work for Summer Lee in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district.³
Emily Randall. Its work page describes work for Emily Randall's race for Washington's 6th congressional district.³
Jon Tester (2024–2024). Its work page describes work for Senator Jon Tester's team in Montana in 2024.³

Of its 3 polls listed since the 2024 election, VoteHub flags 3 as paid for by a Democratic-aligned sponsor and 0 by a Republican-aligned sponsor⁴.

Federal campaigns and committees that paid it

From 2023 through 2026, 4 federal committees reported paying Upswing Research $93,860 for polling, surveys or research^5,6,7,8. By the party each committee reports to the FEC: 3 Democratic, 0 Republican, and 1 none (most PACs and super PACs report none).

The largest payers, by amount paid for polling, surveys or research. Only federal committees report to the FEC; state and local campaigns, work paid through another consultant, and polling billed as consulting are not here. Matched by the payee name on the filing: UPSWING RESEARCH.
Committee	Kind	Party it reports	Paid for polling	Between
RIKER FOR CONGRESS	House campaign	Democratic	$36,300	February 18, 2026
PRESTON FOR PENNSYLVANIA	House campaign	Democratic	$31,200	October 3, 2024 – November 1, 2024
DARIALIZA FOR CONGRESS	House campaign	Democratic	$17,450	April 20, 2026
PA UNITED FEDERAL ACTION COMMITTEE	Super PAC	None reported	$8,910	October 16, 2025

§4Its polls

The 3 polls of its we list, newest first.
In the field	Question	Result	Paid for by	Sample
October 24–October 28, 2026	U.S. Senate · 2026 Michigan	Abdul El-Sayed 50 · Mike Rogers 45	Demand JusticeDemocratic-aligned sponsor	505 LV
April 30–May 5, 2026	U.S. House · 2026 MT-01	Aaron Flint 47 · Matt Rains 43	314 ActionDemocratic-aligned sponsor	401 LV
April 30–May 5, 2026	U.S. House · 2026 MT-01	Aaron Flint 48 · Sam Forstag 43	314 ActionDemocratic-aligned sponsor	401 LV

§5What we looked for and didn't find

No founding year was found; its work page counts campaigns from 2020 but does not say when the firm was founded.
No ownership information was found beyond the founding partner and partners listed on its team page.
Its website names no news outlet partners and no fieldwork or panel vendors.
314 Action and Demand Justice appear as sponsors of some of its polls; no standing arrangement with either was found on the pages read, and the sample releases (posts on X) were not read.
Searches found no AAPOR statement, court ruling or filing, regulator action, aggregator statement about excluding or reweighting its polls, or retraction by the firm.