He applied for a research grant from Yale, but said that when he didn’t get it, he faced a choice: “Abandon it or just do it anyway. If I don’t do it now, when in my life would I have the time? I just decided to do it. If I make nothing out of it, at least I completed the project, which to me has value in itself.”
He has completed 15 states.
“It isn’t easy,” he conceded. The biggest challenge hasn’t been the six hours it takes on average to organize a state’s data from six elections to produce his index. Rather, he said, it has been the variable accuracy, detail and availability of state election data.
Breuer identifies himself as a Democratic activist but said he is sharing his index with anyone who is interested. “Everyone, whether a tea party activist or a progressive activist, should have information,” he said.
The article is a great look at what goes in on the backend of the project, and the effort it takes to release new states every week. I'm incredibly excited to share this work with a broader audience, and welcome all of our new readers. Below, I've provided quick links to all of my work on Vermont, but I hope you'll expand out and check some of the other states we have released as well - the data tells such interesting stories in every state we come across. Lastly, I just want to thank all of the people who have been reading from the start - your support means a lot to me.
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