Brock McCleary, President
Brock McCleary serves as pollster and consultant to Members of Congress, nonpartisan public policy groups, trade associations and businesses across the country. The firm’s namesake is Brock’s daughter Harper.
Brock previously served as Polling Director and Deputy Political Director Director at the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC). During his time as a House Republican campaign strategist, the NRCC picked up 63 seats in the House of Representatives in 2010, the largest gain since 1948, and secured the two largest majorities for Congressional Republicans since World War II.
In 2012, Brock was responsible for the Republican House campaigns challenging sitting Democratic incumbents. On Election Day 2012, President Obama was comfortably reelected and 13 Republican Congressmen were defeated. Despite that, 10 Republican challenger campaigns surprisingly defeated sitting Democrats to help preserve the GOP’s majority in the House of Representatives.
From 2014-2016, Brock served as a Senior Advisor to the NRCC for Independent Expenditure resource allocation in races across the country. In 2017, Brock was the General Consultant for the NRCC’s victorious $8 million Independent Expenditure in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, the most expensive special election in history. In 2018, Harper Polling helped Minnesota Congressman Jim Hagedorn become one of only two Republican challengers to win a Democratic-held seat in the mid-term elections.
Under Brock’s direction, Harper Polling conducts polls for public release in high-profile races, with a noteworthy record of success. Harper Polling was the only PA pollster to predict the race shifting towards Trump in Pennsylvania in the final days of the 2016 Election—reporting a tied race 3 days before Election Day. In 2014, Harper was the only pollster to correctly forecast both Governor Wolf’s landslide victory in the Democratic Primary and his 10% margin of victory in the General Election. And, Harper Polling was the only pollster that had Senator Tillis winning before the 2014 North Carolina Senate Election—and accurately predicted the 2% margin of victory.
Brock is one of the country’s foremost experts on the political landscape of Congress. His work on redistricting efforts in 2011 and a high volume of Congressional polls each election cycle provide Brock with a unique understanding of the electoral footing beneath the U.S. House and Senate.
Prior to founding Harper Polling, Brock McCleary worked as a campaign operative, Capitol Hill aide, and public affairs consultant. He previously served as Communications Director for Congressman Patrick McHenry of North Carolina. He began his career in 1998 as the Deputy Coalitions Director for Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge’s reelection campaign. He served as
Political Director of the New Jersey Republican Party and as a consultant to congressional and state legislative races in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, before heading to Washington, D.C.
Brock is a RIVA-trained focus group Moderator. In 2010, he was presented with the “Rising Star” Award by Campaigns & Elections magazine.
“Chairman Pete Session’s NRCC, led by Executive Director Guy Harrison, Communications Director Paul Lindsay, Political Director Mike Shields, and Polling Director Brock McCleary, correctly calculated early on in the cycle that offense was the best defense. Their early attacks to encourage Democratic retirements helped create a GOP open-seat advantage and eventually forced Democrats to spend millions of dollars defending seats in places like Connecticut, Rhode Island and southern Illinois.”-Famed Political Handicapper Charlie Cook
A Q&A with polling guru Brock McCleary- City & State PA
“House Republican survey maven Brock McCleary”- Time Magazine