When pollster John Anzalone thinks about Illinois, he can reach for his Rolodex and call friends like David Axelrod and Illinois Senate President John Cullerton.
But relationships aside, his Alabama-based consulting firm Anzalone Liszt Research has another card it can play.
“Winning races — that’s a pretty good marketing tool right there,” Anzalone says.
That’s what the game is about, and Anzalone Liszt is one of many firms from beyond Illinois’ borders that find the Land of Lincoln full of opportunity.
Indeed, four of the firms on the Chicago Current’s ranking of the top 10 consultancies working on Illinois campaigns are headquartered out of state.
Philadelphia-based Shorr Johnson Magnus, which worked on Dan Hynes’ gubernatorial campaign, brought in nearly $2 million in Illinois business in 2009.
That was good enough to earn Shorr the No. 2 spot in the Current rankings.
Iowa-based Victory Enterprises, which also has a Springfield office, worked on GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady’s campaign and netted $354,000 in Illinois revenue last year.
D.C.-based Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research works with Alexi Giannoulias, and conducts polling for Mayor Richard M. Daley. It brought in $251,875 in Illinois revenue.
Anzalone Liszt’s Illinois business, which began in the 1990s, grows out of deep ties to the area. Anzalone grew up in St. Charles, Mich., where he says WGN and the Chicago Tribune were fixtures at home. His partner, Jeff Liszt, attended the University of Chicago.
Add longstanding friendships with Axelrod and Cullerton, and the firm’s tidy Illinois business is no surprise.
Anzalone says contributing to winning races has been the easiest way to market the firm, which counts Gov. Pat Quinn among its current clients.
“Regardless of the fact that we have a cultural connection to the Chicago area, regardless if we’re polling in Chicago or Nevada or Rhode Island, part of what we do as researchers is immerse ourselves in the demographics, geography and the climate where our client is running,” he says. “We’re able to come in unfiltered.”
Though out-of-state firms do a healthy business, they’re no match for AKPD Message and Media, which led the Current’s rankings.
John Kupper, senior partner at AKPD, says the firm doesn’t worry too much about competition from afar — and is also working to build its national and international business.
“This is a big state with expensive media markets. It’s a very attractive place for consultants to play,” he says.
Particularly during primary season, there’s plenty of work to go around.
“When you have multiple candidates in a primary, there are opportunities for multiple consultants,” he says.
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