Associate, Elections Data & Analytics

The Cook Political Report is hiring an Associate to maintain and analyze candidate, race, and election data supporting its nonpartisan ratings and analysis. The role also creates visualizations and supports editorial research, trend analysis, and content publishing.

What you'll do:

• Maintain and update candidate profiles, polling, and election data across House, Senate, Gubernatorial, and Presidential contests, exercising sound judgment when reconciling ambiguous or conflicting information
• Build charts, maps, and interactive graphics in Datawrapper for our newsletter, website, and social media, including on tight turnarounds around election nights and primaries
• Enter and QA new data as it becomes available (FEC filings, election results, candidate announcements), flagging discrepancies to editors as needed
• Use R and spreadsheets to clean, organize, and analyze data to support editorial research and trend analysis
• Write brief campaign summaries for race pages as requested
• Collaborate with editors and analysts across our House, Senate, Governor, and Presidential teams to support their data & research needs
• Maintain data integrity and consistency across our CMS (Drupal) and related spreadsheets/databases
• Explore and pilot AI tools to improve data workflows, and stay current on emerging AI/data tools relevant to political data journalism
• Provide support to Cook Political Report newsletter and content publishing as needed

What they're looking for:

• 1-2 years of relevant experience (internships included) in data analysis, research, journalism, or a related field
• Strong writing and communication skills
• Proficiency with R and advanced spreadsheet skills (Excel/Google Sheets)
• Experience with Datawrapper or similar data visualization tools
• Familiarity with CMS platforms (Drupal experience a plus)
• Strong attention to detail and comfort making judgment calls on data classification and updates
• Interest in emerging AI tools and how they can improve data and editorial workflows
• Interest in U.S. politics and elections, with a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisan, accuracy-first analysis
• Bachelor's degree in political science, data science, statistics, journalism, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
• Experience working with election or campaign finance datasets (FEC, Census, voter file data, etc.)
• Basic familiarity with mapping/GIS tools
• Prior experience in a newsroom or research environment

Benefits:

• This full-time position is eligible for a generous benefits package including options for medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) with company match, and bonuses.
• Flexible PTO
• Promoting wellness