Adrian D. Pantoja,PhD

Senior Analyst

Adrian is an expert pollster and data analyst of the Latino electorate. He has designed dozens of polls for organizations and campaigns seeking to gain a better understanding of Latino beliefs, values, and behaviors.  Adrian has more than 25 years experience in Latino polling, starting as part of the team at the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute which led state and national large-sample Latino polls in the 1996, 1998, and 2000 elections.  Adrian’s 2001 analysis of the Latino vote in California, Texas, and Florida – Citizens by Choice, Voters by Necessity – is considered one of the most important and impactful political science studies done of Latino voter turnout and political mobilization.

With his extensive expertise on Latino environmental attitudes, Adrian has conducted focus groups and surveys for national and state environmental organizations. Most recently he completed a landscape analysis of environmental concerns, effective messages and media opportunities for Earth Justice. During presidential and congressional elections, Adrian has designed and analyzed a weekly tracking poll of Latino voters for the National Association of Latino Elected Officials.

Adrian also has expertise in understanding transnational civic and political engagement among Latino immigrant communities in the U.S, having published studies on the how Mexican, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran and Dominican populations in the U.S. stay connected to home country politics.

Adrian is a professor of Political Studies and Chicano Studies at Pitzer College and a member of the Claremont Colleges in Southern California. He recently completed a term as Associate Dean and Chair of the Racial Justice Initiative at Pitzer College. He earned his B.A. from the University of San Francisco, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the Claremont Graduate University.