Cliston Brown

Cliston is a political analyst and communications executive and has been successfully forecasting the results of U.S. elections since 2006. He has had particular success in pinpointing key Congressional races and projecting the number of seats won by each of the major political parties in the 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014 elections.

On average, Brown has projected the final composition of the U.S. House of Representatives within 3.8 seats and the U.S. Senate within 1.4 seats.

In the 2012 election, Brown correctly called 49 of the 50 states in the presidential race, missing only President Obama’s razor-thin victory in Florida. He also called the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House within one seat of their final compositions.

Most recently, in 2014, Brown called the U.S. Senate within one seat, and the U.S. House within two seats, of their final compositions—coming closer in the House than all of the leading professional prognosticators.

Brown began his career as a journalist in the Chicago area in 1994, covering government and politics, intellectual property law, international business issues, education, and law enforcement. He moved to Washington, D.C., in 2001, where he served for two years as director of communications for U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Indiana), then transitioned back into the private sector as a communications professional and political analyst in the insurance industry, holding positions in Washington, Chicago and San Francisco. He is currently a communications executive in San Francisco and writes the “Party Crasher” column on U.S. politics for the New York Observer. He also has a regularly scheduled weekly segment, “Listen to Cliston”, on The Hal Ginsberg Morning Show Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. Eastern/6:30 a.m. Pacific.

Brown currently resides in Alameda, California, and graduated from Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana.

Follow Brown on Facebook at facebook.com/ClistonBrownPolitics, and Twitter: @clistonbrown