Williamsburg Architect Highlighted by NBC News for Election Acumen, Credits Communal Support as Key to Chasidic Businesses’ Success

BROOKLYN (VINnews/Sandy Eller) – A Chasidic architect from Williamsburg has found himself in the media spotlight after being profiled by NBC News for his ability to accurately analyze poll data and forecast election results.

30 year old Volvi Einhorn’s Political Polls Twitter account has amassed nearly 198,000 followers over the past five years, gaining a whopping 10,000 followers in just a matter of hours on election night 2016 by correctly calling races before the big name news outlets.

“We were going to have this big party and were so sure Clinton was going to win,” Einhorn told VIN News. “I was in the office and the first state to come in was Indiana and there was a huge margin for Trump. I texted my friend and told him I wasn’t sure I could come, that it was going to be along night, and he told me Trump had no chance.”

Einhorn analyzes multiple factors including demographics, trends and prior election results, often going district by district to formulate his predictions. He professes a love of politics, something he said is fairly common in Chasidic communities.

“Every chasidus has its own politics and Chasidim like to know about the world and to go back and forth on interesting news,” said the father of two. “This is something interesting, that people can think over, and Jewish people have always liked giving thought-out opinions.”

Having grown up in Monsey’s Viznitz community, Einhorn attended local yeshivas and he is proud of his upbringing and Chasidic identity, even if he doesn’t wear traditional garb every day of the week. Following in the footsteps of his father who served as the architect for the largest synagogue in the United States, he manages an architecture business by day, saving his political and statistical calculations for his off hours. He plans to work a full day on Election Day and will be doing a three hour live feed for Kol Mevaser as the results come in, while also tweeting results and predictions.

Einhorn acknowledged that after Trump’s 2016 upset, most people are afraid of offering predictions, but at this time he sees a close race, with Biden currently holding a slight lead.

As of Wednesday afternoon, he believes that Trump will win in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, very possibly Iowa and maybe even Nevada, given its large Hispanic population, a demographic that supports the president. He expects Biden to take Michigan, Minnesota, Maine, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and believes that he will flip Arizona from red to blue, with Democrats turning out strongly to support astronaut Mark Kelly, whose wife Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head in 2011 mass shooting in Tucson.

“He is very popular and his Republican opponent isn’t popular at all,” noted Einhorn. “That is going to bring out the Democrats and the senate race will reflect on the presidential race.”

An unlikely presence in the arena of political forecasters, Einhorn believes strongly that many in the Chasidic community have succeeded because of their upbringing and the tight network of support that helps members flourish.

“When I started working, I didn’t have a degree, but the people in the community hired me and trusted me to do the job right and because of that trust, I actually did,” said Einhorn. “The majority of our clients are Chasidim and we all support each other. Go into any grocery – item by item, they are all made by Chasidim, from kosher soap to milk to bread to any kind of snack. Chasidim are here to support each other.”

Those values permeate the teachings of Chasidic schools, observed Einhorn.

“We were always taught to own whatever we do,” said Einhorn. “We may not go to college but we own businesses, often at relatively young ages and instead of being in the business we are on the business, which gives you so much more. When someone opens up a pharmacy, they have the ability to grow much more than the pharmacist. We were taught to think big and that is what we strive for – it is the largest element of our education and a big part of our success.”