Who Eli is

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Eli Yokley launched PoliticMo at age 18 while graduating from Webb City High School in the spring of 2010. The Columbia Journalism Review would later dub him a "journalism prodigy" for building serious statewide political coverage.

A year later, an EF-5 tornado tore through his hometown of Joplin, killing 161 people. Covering the recovery taught him what real stakes look like—and who has power when it matters most. This foundation shaped everything that followed.

In 2012, he covered Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill's surprise victory over Todd Akin, a race that shocked the nation and became a defining moment in debates over reproductive rights and political strategy. The work — while he was a student at Mizzou — established him as a journalist who could spot the fault lines in American politics before they cracked wide open.

By 2014, he was providing crucial on-the-ground reporting during the unrest in Ferguson following the police killing of Michael Brown. While the world watched, he offered the local perspective that helped national outlets understand dynamics of race, policing, and community tension that would shape American political discourse for years to come.

His coverage of Missouri's tumultuous state legislature during this period—combined with his reporting from Joplin, Ferguson, and the Akin race—led to contributions in The New York Times by age 22, while he was still in college at Mizzou. He'd learned how political power actually works when real people's lives hang in the balance.

The shoe-leather reporting that built PoliticMo's reputation opened doors to national outlets. By his early twenties, Eli's work was appearing in The New York Times, The Daily Beast, and Politico—publications that recognized his ability to connect state-level political battles to larger national trends.

What set him apart wasn't just access or speed. It was the instinct developed covering a state legislature at 18, refined through Joplin's recovery politics, and sharpened during Ferguson's national reckoning. He understood that political power isn't abstract—it determines policy outcomes, shapes business environments, and affects real people.

That understanding, combined with a track record of spotting fault lines before they became national stories, positioned Eli for the next step.

Eli moved to Washington, D.C., in 2015, joining CQ Roll Call as a national political reporter. A year later, he transitioned to Morning Consult, where his work shifted from shoe-leather reporting to synthesizing public opinion data with political intelligence. The evolution combined his instincts as a reporter with the rigor of quantitative analysis.

At Morning Consult, he's focused on the intersection of public opinion and the wielding of political power by governments, candidates, and those influencing policy. His work has spanned the entirety of the current moment in U.S. politics—the rise of Donald Trump, the new Republican coalition Trump built, the challenges and opportunities it created for both parties, the dynamics of the Biden presidency, and the broader forces of partisan polarization reshaping American democracy.

Today, Eli's work centers on quantifying political risk and translating high-frequency polling data into strategic intelligence that helps organizations navigate domestic policy volatility. His published analysis and in-person insights inform C-suites, senior policy decision makers in the White House and on Capitol Hill, diplomats, and campaign professionals across Bloomberg TV, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, and SiriusXM.

Born in July 1992 in Joplin, Eli grew up in Oronogo and graduated from Webb City High School. His dad worked as a mechanic, while his mom was an educator leader focused on special education. He has two younger brothers—a nurse practicing in Webb City and a dentist in St. Louis.

Eli was inspired by his grandparents Bob and Joann Arnold, who married in 1955 in Sheldon, Missouri, and shared a 64-year marriage rooted in small-town southwest Missouri values. Bob, an Air Force veteran, spent nearly four decades in education as a teacher, coach, principal and superintendent across Missouri public schools. Joann worked as a teacher.

On his paternal side, his grandfather was a Barton County farmer for over 23 years and a truck driver for CFI, known for woodworking, car repairs, hunting, and his status as a champion skeet shooter. His uncle rose to captain in the Kansas State Highway Patrol.

Eli lives in Washington, D.C., with his partner, who worked on campaigns and Capitol Hill before joining a global media company as an executive. But Eli's knows where he's from. He makes regular trips home to Kansas City for BBQ, Chiefs games and uncle duties with his brother's kid. 

Missouri roots aren't just biography; Eli brings those values to the work he does.