Our Gold Pollie Award-winning Legislative History & Key Votes research played a decisive role in Gil Cisneros’s successful primary campaign in California’s 31st Congressional District, demonstrating the power of targeted legislative research in exposing opponent vulnerabilities. This case study showcases how our modular research approach delivers campaign-winning intelligence by focusing precisely on the most impactful elements of an opponent’s record.

Our comprehensive 10-year legislative analysis of state senator Susan Rubio revealed a damaging pattern: accepting contributions from pharmaceutical, oil, and private prison industries, followed by votes and abstentions that aligned with these special interests’ priorities. The research documented how Rubio was failed to vote on the California Climate Crisis Act, opposed oil well clean-up efforts, and abstained on legislation to curb dialysis company profits — all while accepting contributions from the affected industries.

This research formed the backbone of the campaign’s communications program in mail and TV. The impact was immediate and decisive: polling showed Cisneros surge from 6% to 27% following the ad’s launch, while Rubio fell from 18% to 12%. In the final results, Cisneros secured victory with 23.6% of the vote while Rubio finished fourth at 15.8%—a complete reversal from the race’s starting point.

The success demonstrates how our modular approach allows campaigns to invest precisely in the research that matters most. By focusing specifically on legislative voting patterns and their correlation with special interest contributions, our Key Votes module provided exactly the targeted intelligence needed to transform this competitive primary race.