About Us

Our Mission .

The two women principals of our firm have worked together for over two decades, experiencing both high and low electoral points along the way, working together on tens of thousands of surveys, focus groups, in-depth interviews, and ethnographies. In other words, we’ve nearly seen it all and understand what it takes to succeed in both friendly and hostile environments. We bring a unique level of expertise as a solely women-founded, owned and managed firm to our clients and a seamless partnership that provides deliverables under crucial deadlines as promised.

Lauren Spangler .

CEO of Searchlight Research

Lauren Spangler is the CEO of Searchlight Research and has worked in the field of polling for over two decades. As the granddaughter of a small-town Mayor and labor union leader, Spangler has been involved in local political campaigns and get out the vote efforts since childhood and has made local campaigns an area of expertise, working for hundreds of state legislators, state legislative candidates, mayors, and city and county officials.

Working at Myers Research and now founding her own firm, Spangler has conducted research for thousands of campaigns and independent expenditure efforts, ranging from the local level to Presidential campaigns as well as research on behalf of labor unions, corporations, and non-profit organizations on issues ranging from recycling to gaming. She has played an integral role in understanding attitudes and voting behavior among Latino audiences, with an emphasis on the importance of conducting research among voters who are Spanish-language dominant.

Spangler is a proud Western Pennsylvania native and graduated from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and a Certificate in Business. A PTA mom, she lives on Capitol Hill with her husband and elementary school-age son.

Kate Scimone .

COO of Searchlight Research

Kate Scimone is the COO of Searchlight Research and began her career working at the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, overseeing the Democratic Party’s Help America Vote Act (HAVA) operation in 2003. From 2005 through 2011, Scimone was the Managing Director at Myers Research where she oversaw all the fielding, project management, and scheduling of the polling operation as well as the statistics-based and multivariate analysis of all projects. Scimone also served as an analyst to the Maine Senate and Georgia House Caucus programs and as an assistant analyst to a number of additional causes and gubernatorial campaigns. Scimone rejoined Myers Research in 2015 and served in the COO role there until our recent rebranding.

Scimone moved back to her native New York in 2011, where she worked for a non-profit education organization that seeks to provide an equitable education for all children, regardless of where they live or their socioeconomic status. Scimone focused on operations and project management, though her work also included budgeting and Board and community relations.

Scimone is a graduate of the George Washington University, where her focus was on statistical methods, sampling methodology, and statistical analysis. She lives on Long Island with her husband and toddler-age daughter.