Smart Politics is one of the most regularly cited academic-based non-partisan political news sites in the country - frequently referenced and featured by national and local news outlets as well as educators that yearn for an unbiased, data-based approach to the analysis of politics and policy.

Drawing from its extensive data archives, Smart Politics is known for infusing a deep historical perspective into the hundreds of original reports it publishes each year.

Over the last three general election cycles, Smart Politics has also offered detailed election profiles and some of the most accurate race projections in the digital media for Upper Midwestern and national contests.

For example, in the 2010 election cycle, Smart Politics' U.S. House race projections were more accurate and precise than any of the go-to national prognosticators, predicting a net GOP pick-up of 62 seats - just one shy of their final tally and more accurate than Larry Sabato (55 seats), Nate Silver (54 seats), Rasmussen Reports (55 seats), Charlie Cook (50-60 seats), and Stuart Rothenberg (55-65 seats).

In Upper Midwestern state legislative races, over the past three election cycles Smart Politics correctly projected Democratic takeovers of the Iowa House (2006), Minnesota House (2006), Wisconsin Senate (2006), Wisconsin Assembly (2008), and Republican takeovers of the Iowa House (2010), Wisconsin Senate (2010), and Wisconsin Assembly (2010).

In 2006, Smart Politics was also one of the few political news sites to correctly predict Minnesota Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty would successfully defend his re-election bid, even while none of the 10 public opinion polls published since October of that year showed Pawlenty with a lead.

As the 2012 election season heats up, Smart Politics is your home for sharp, reliable non-partisan analysis of the race for the White House as well as U.S. Senate, U.S. House, gubernatorial, and state legislative contests across the Upper Midwest and the nation.