Palm Beach Is Jill Stein Country, Polling App Suggests

Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential nominee, may poll only 2.5 percent nationally, but locally she has become increasingly appealing for many voters frustrated by their options of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

When Stein recently toured the Sunshine State, her supporters packed venues to see her speak, and a new map by the polling app We the People suggests that if the election were held today, Stein would beat both Clinton and Trump in the West Palm Beach metro area.

"That area does have a lot of Greens,” said Hollywood resident Carlos Valnera, who says he will be voting for Stein this election.

Although Stein certainly has a following across South Florida, the map may not be a reliable reflection of West Palm Beach’s political atmosphere.  It expresses the presidential choices of users who have downloaded the app and participated in the poll, so Greens might be represented disproportionately.  (The situation is comparable in some ways to Donald Trump's claim that he won every poll.)

 Indeed, Jed Breed, CEO of We the People, shares Trump's skepticism of the media.

“Our poll is based on the people who download our app,” Breed says. “It seems Jill Stein supporters have found a place that really resonates with them as we provide a poll that isn't connected to mainstream media.”

Breed also acknowledges Stein herself has promoted the app among her supporters.


Still, We the People’s map shows something interesting: There are large swaths of South Florida that are neither red nor blue. This means Stein’s campaign, a grassroots effort, has resonated with people in this part of the Sunshine State.

This is also true in more conservative areas like southwest Florida.

Breed, who says his app has substantial political representation across the United States (the exact number is confidential), offered another explanation for the discrepancy with mainstream polls.  “It is also likely that this group is underrepresented in many polls that don't include third party candidates in their polling,” he said. “No one knows just how underrepresented.”

If you’re interested in checking out We the People, you can download it for free via Android and iPhone app stores.