Ayres McHenry & Associates

Ayres, McHenry & Associates describes itself as "a national public opinion and public affairs research firm located in Alexandria, VA that specializes in providing quality research and strategic advice to corporations, associations, and political candidates."

Republican-affiliated polling firm
Ayres, McHenry & Associates' Web site identifies it as a Republican-affiliated firm, saying the firm specializes in "providing research and strategic advice for corporations, associations, and Republican candidates for public office." (Italicized emphasis added.) The firm belongs to the National Association of Republican Campaign Professionals, where Whit Ayres, the firm's founder and president, is a member of the Board of Directors.

The New York Times said in a March 18, 2010 article that polls done by Ayres, McHenry & Associates for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the issue of health care reform legislation were not up to the Times' standards for publication of the results. The Times wrote:

"Instead of randomly selecting their respondents, the Chamber of Commerce sampled from voter lists, a practice The New York Times and many other media pollsters do not endorse because the lists are often outdated and are generally not representative — they do not include unlisted telephone numbers, for example. Moreover, the firm that conducted the surveys, Ayres, McHenry & Associates, identifies itself as a partisan (Republican-leaning) firm.*"

SourceWatch resources

 * Public polling industry

Contact details
Ayres, McHenry & Associates, Inc. 112 North Alfred Street Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone: 703-836-7666 Fax: 703-836-8146 Web: http://www.ayresmchenry.com/