Category: Insights
-

The Personas Behind California’s June Vote
EMC’s Electoral Personas show who voted in California’s June 2026 primary. Two partisan bases made up 41.1% of voters but 25.8% of registrants.
-

Researcher Spotlight: How Sianna Ziegler Turns Curiosity into Community Impact
At EMC Research, data is only part of the story. Meet Sianna Ziegler, Vice President, Strategy, whose curiosity…
-

How Well Did EMC’s California Analytics Predict June 2026 School Bond Elections
We built our school bond measure support score to predict how California voters would respond before a single ballot went out. We wanted to see how well it actually held up against real results, so here’s our analysis of how it performed in the June 2026 election.
-

-

Challenging Conventional Wisdom: Why the Largest Transportation Expansion in the U.S. Started With Testing Assumptions
The 2016 ballot measure for Sound Transit’s $54 billion expansion defied conventional wisdom about voter appetite for expanded rapid transit in Puget Sound. In the early stages of the long road to the measure reaching the ballot, the vast majority of stakeholders and onlookers believed voters lacked the appetite for such an ambitious transit expansion.…
-

Lead With Listening: Research That Drives Real Behavior Change
A driver sits at an intersection, turn signal blinking, waiting to make an unprotected left turn. They scan for a gap in oncoming traffic. Behind them, another car inches closer. The driver feels the pressure, the need to move, to not hold anyone up, so when they see their opening, they accelerate through the turn.…
-

Not in My Backyard: How Clean Energy Companies Can Navigate Public Opinion
Picture this: “No Solar” yard signs sprouting across a rural community, angry residents packing town halls, and a multi-million-dollar renewable energy project grinding to a halt. Sound familiar? The clean energy industry has a messaging problem. While 81% of Californians support building more solar power stations, only 40% will pay higher electricity rates to make…
-

The Ideology of Immunity: Why Belief Shapes Vaccine Acceptance
August marks National Immunization Month, a time typically reserved for celebrating one of public health’s greatest achievements. Instead, we’re confronting a sobering reality: measles cases in the United States have reached 1,356 confirmed cases across 40 jurisdictions as of mid-July 2025 — a disease we once thought eliminated. This isn’t just a public health crisis.…
-

From Polling to Progress: Building Trust in Public Education Funding
After nearly two decades of conducting feasibility research for school districts across California, I’ve learned that successful education funding isn’t just about numbers — it’s about trust. And while that trust is being tested like never before, it’s also an opportunity for districts to engage their communities more deeply, listen more carefully, and build lasting…
-

Five Expert Insights About Housing, Homelessness, and Hope
At EMC Research, we’ve spent the past 15 years working alongside housing advocates, policymakers, and campaign leaders to make affordable housing a reality for more people. We don’t craft policy ourselves, but we’re deeply committed to providing the research, insights, and strategic guidance that fuel meaningful change. We’re proud to support organizations advancing this work…
