Whit Ayres

Whit Ayres is a leading Washington, D.C. political consultant with over 30 years of experience in polling and survey research for high profile political campaigns, corporations, and non-profit organizations.

Ayres is the founder and president of North Star Opinion Research (www.northstaropinion.com), a national public opinion and public affairs research firm located in Alexandria, Virginia. North Star provides strategic recommendations and advice on messaging to high level political clients, including Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and U.S. Senators Marco Rubio, Lamar Alexander, Bob Corker, Lindsey Graham, and Jim Inhofe.

Ayres has also worked with numerous non-profit clients including the Boy Scouts of America, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, America’s Health Insurance Plans, and the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association.

Ayres and former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie are cofounders of Resurgent Republic (www.resurgentrepublic.com), a center-right non-profit which develops national polls and focus groups and disseminates the results, helping policy makers, think tanks, interest groups, and others advocate for policies that are consistent with conservative principles. Resurgent’s research is regularly cited by leading journalists and politicos.

Ayres has been active in The American Association of Political Consultants (www.theaapc.org) for over 20 years, serving as its chairman, president, and treasurer. In 2012 Ayres was honored as the Republican Pollster of the Year by the organization. AAPC is a bi-partisan professional society that promotes the political consulting industry, protects political freedom of speech, and fosters ethical behavior in political campaigns.

Ayres is a frequent commentator on network and cable media outlets, including NBC’s Meet the Press, FOX News, CNN, and NPR. His comments and analysis appear in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and numerous regional newspapers.

Ayres founded North Star after a career as a tenured professor in the Department of Government and International Studies at the University of South Carolina. He is a graduate of Davidson College and holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.