Geoff Garin is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 pollster, who served as chief strategist for Senator Hillary Clinton's 2008 Presidential campaign. He is president of Peter D. Hart Research Associates and has been an on-air analyst for CBS Radio

CBS Radio

CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...

's coverage of the national election returns for every election cycle since 1990.

Hart Research

Garin is the president of Peter D. Hart Research Associates, a survey research firm. He became president of Hart Research in 1984, after having worked in the firm since 1978 as a senior analyst and vice president. He has conducted polling projects for a wide variety of foundations and non-profit organizations. The foundations for which he has undertaken policy research on include the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Packard Foundation, the Gill Foundation

Gill Foundation

The Gill Foundation is one of the largest private funders of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equal rights work in the United States...

, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation

Annie E. Casey Foundation

The Annie E. Casey Foundation was started in 1948 in Seattle, Washington, by UPS founder James E. Casey and his siblings George, Harry and Marguerite. It was named in honor of their mother. The foundation moved to Baltimore in 1994....

.

Garin's body of research has also included projects for the University of California

University of California

The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...

, the College Board

College Board

The College Board is a membership association in the United States that was formed in 1900 as the College Entrance Examination Board . It is composed of more than 5,900 schools, colleges, universities and other educational organizations. It sells standardized tests used by academically oriented...

, the Alliance for Justice

Alliance for Justice

Alliance for Justice is a national association of environmental, civil rights, mental health, women's, children's and consumer advocacy organizations in the USA....

, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America

Association of Trial Lawyers of America

The American Association for Justice , formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America is the leading organization for lawyers representing plaintiffs in the United States...

, and the Fannie Mae Foundation

Federal National Mortgage Association

The Federal National Mortgage Association , commonly known as Fannie Mae, was founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the New Deal. It is a government-sponsored enterprise , though it has been a publicly traded company since 1968...

. He has conducted research on health care issues for the Kaiser Family Foundation

Kaiser Family Foundation

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation , or just Kaiser Family Foundation, is a U.S.-based non-profit, private operating foundation headquartered in Menlo Park, California. It focuses on the major health care issues facing the nation, as well as the U.S. role in global health policy...

 and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association

Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is a federation of 39 separate health insurance organizations and companies in the United States. Combined, they directly or indirectly provide health insurance to over 100 million Americans. The history of Blue Cross dates back to 1929, while the history of...

. His work on international policy issues includes studies for CARE, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF

U.S. Fund for UNICEF

The United States Fund for UNICEF is the United States non-profit non-governmental organization that supports the United Nations Children's Fund . Founded in 1947 by Helenka Pantaleoni, it is the oldest of the 36 UNICEF National Committees that support UNICEF worldwide through fundraising,...

, and the United Nations Foundation

United Nations Foundation

The United Nations Foundation started up in 1998 with a $1 billion grant from Ted Turner in order to support the United Nations in executing its programs worldwide. The creation of the Foundation was intended to encourage other donors to also support the UN in its activities...

. His work will also be used in the forthcoming book The Kennedy Half-Century

The Kennedy Half-Century

The Kennedy Half-Century is a non-fiction book by American political scientist Larry J. Sabato, to be published in 2013 by Walker & Company. The book's focus is John F. Kennedy, spanning his life, presidential administration, and assassination. The book will include new polling by Democratic...

. Garin has also worked for numerous politicians, such as Senators Max Baucus

Max Baucus

Max Sieben Baucus is the senior United States Senator from Montana and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1978, as of 2010 he is the longest-serving Senator from Montana, and the fifth longest-serving U.S...

, Robert Byrd

Robert Byrd

Robert Carlyle Byrd was a United States Senator from West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959 and as a U.S. Senator from 1959 to 2010...

, John Rockefeller, and Hillary Clinton, and Virginia Governor Mark Warner

Mark Warner

Mark Robert Warner is an American politician and businessman, currently serving in the United States Senate as the junior senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Warner was the 69th governor of Virginia from 2002 to 2006 and is the honorary chairman of...

.

2008 Presidential election

Garin was hired in March 2008 as a pollster for Hillary Clinton's Presidential campaign. He replaced Mark Penn

Mark Penn

Mark J. Penn , is the worldwide CEO of the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller and president of the polling firm Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates. In September 2007, he released a book titled Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes, which examines small trends sweeping...

 as the Clinton Campaign's chief strategist in April 2008, after the Wall Street Journal revealed that Penn met with Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

n official regarding a proposed free trade agreement opposed by Clinton and most labor unions. He changed the direction of the campaign away from negative campaigning. Senator Charles Schumer from New York called him “the straightest shooter. He doesn’t try to shift the numbers or slant the numbers to buttress his argument" Many said that his replacement of Mark Penn was merely a cover up, however, James Carville came to his defense saying ``Geoff Garin is someone I've known for 30 years. If they think they're going to let him be used in some bait-and-switch campaign, they're mistaken

Personal life

Garin graduated from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, class of 1975. He is married to Deborah Berkowitz, an expert in occupational safety and health, and has two sons.