Lambert, Edwards & Associates (LE&A), Michigan’s largest bi-partisan public relations firm, will conduct quarterly statewide polls in 2012 to measure public opinions on a wide array of issues and questions important to voters across the Great Lakes state. LE&A has retained Denno Research to conduct these surveys in one of the biggest battleground states in the nation.

"We believe the 2012 political cycle represents a crucial watershed for public policy and political matters across Michigan," said Jeff Lambert, president and managing partner. "Our bi-partisan public affairs team in Lansing will be measuring and monitoring – over the course of the calendar year – a variety of issues and topics that will shape our state and nation for years to come."

In addition, LE&A will also be conducting regular snapshot polling electronically of more than 100 selected Lansing and Washington, D.C. insiders throughout the calendar year. Over the course of 2012, LE&A will conduct six snapshot polls and will release the results to key statewide media.

"Gauging the opinions and attitudes of the electorate in Michigan – one of the biggest battleground states – is important to understanding how they will behave in the primary and general elections," said Dennis Denno, president of Denno Research. "We are excited to join LE&A as we provide this critical information to the public."

LE&A intends to stagger the polls in a way to best take the temperature of Michigan’s electorate between now and the November election. LE&A’s first statewide public opinion poll of 2012 was in the field last week to immediately follow Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s State of State Address. LE&A will release those results soon. The first LE&A poll of political insiders will be released in February and is set to occur bi-monthly.

The polling effort will be managed by LE&A’s bi-partisan Lansing-based Public Affairs Practice, which is staffed by Republican Emily Gerkin Palsrok and Democrat T.J. Bucholz. Long-time friends and colleagues since their days together in journalism school at Central Michigan University, Palsrok and Bucholz together bring more than 30 years of political and public policy expertise to bear in the public affairs realm and for clients across LE&A’s five practice groups.

Palsrok, managing director of the practice group, joined the firm in 2003 after serving as deputy press secretary for former Michigan House Republican Speaker Rick Johnson (R-LeRoy). In this position, she coordinated message development and served as the Speaker’s liaison to news media throughout Michigan. Palsrok also previously served as deputy director of communications for the Michigan House Republican Caucus. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and political science from CMU in 1997, and a master’s degree in public relations from Michigan State University in 2008.

Bucholz, a director in LE&A’s public affairs practice, has a decade of experience directing communications and advocacy in the executive branch for Governors John Engler and Jennifer Granholm, having served as communications director for the Michigan Department of Community Health and the Michigan Department of Education. Bucholz has also served as a long-time political advisor for statewide democratic candidates for office, including Granholm, Lt. Governor John Cherry, House Democratic Speaker Andy Dillon, and Secretary of State candidate Jocelyn Benson. Bucholz graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism and political science from CMU in 1994, and a Masters of Public Administration from Western Michigan University in 2010.

The staff of Denno Research brings more than 20 years of experience in polling and they are a full service public opinion company located in Michigan. They offer experience in polling for political campaigns, corporations, associations, and non-profit organizations and have worked with clients in both Michigan and New Jersey. They have been in business since 2004 and have conducted statewide surveys to measure the pulse of voters since 2006.