Special Election Victories Provide Important Insights
With only a slim majority in the House of Representatives, special elections are critical to maintaining a Democratic majority. That’s why New Blue Interactive is thrilled to have been able to play an essential role in two recent victories: Melanie Stansbury in New Mexico and Allison Russo in Ohio.
“Melanie Stansbury’s success may point to a winning strategy for the midterms.”
In New Mexico, we worked with now-Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury to help amplify her message across digital channels and win the first major test for House Democrats this cycle. Michelle Mayorga, Scott Forrester, and the rest of Team Stansbury were a joy to work with, and we were honored to be able to play a part in winning this special election to fill Secretary Deb Haaland’s seat in New Mexico’s First Congressional District.
Our success in New Mexico was driven by our commitment to tailoring our digital approach to the candidate and district, instead of relying on cookie-cutter solutions. Led by our Managing Director, Lauren Dikis, and our Vice President of Advertising, Arielle Einstein, New Blue ran a highly effective and aggressive multi-channel, bi-lingual paid communications strategy — in a conservative media market — that stayed true to the campaign’s message and core values.
Digital Persuasion
Our paid communications strategy reached 190,000 targeted New Mexicans, helped drive a strong get out the vote program, and was crucial to Congresswoman Stansbury outperforming what was expected in the district by 6.6 points.
Digital Fundraising
On the email side, Senior Digital Strategist Joey Nay and Digital Strategist Kirsten Schlegel led an impressive program that broke the New Mexico record for the highest quarterly fundraising total!
Our highly targeted acquisition program set the table for success, growing the overall list by 300% and leading to a return on investment of 300% for the campaign. This early investment in list acquisition was critical to setting up the campaign for success.
Similar to our Digital Persuasion program, our Digital Fundraising success was driven by a tailored messaging approach that perfectly fit the district and the candidate. By executing our plan through effective email and text communication, we were able to help Melanie raise almost half a million dollars in the short special election campaign cycle.
We know Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury will put her experience to work for the people of New Mexico’s First Congressional District, and we can’t wait to continue our work with her.
Allison Russo’s Primary Victory in OH-15
In Ohio, Managing Director Lauren Dikis worked with our advertising team to help Allison Russo emerge victorious in her primary. Our well-rounded direct-to-donate program was critical to funding her successful campaign, delivering a 409% return on ad spend and allowing her team to do the organizing outreach necessary to reach her voter targets. Allison will now go up against Donald Trump’s endorsed candidate in a general election this November that will be critical to determining which party gets the majority.
Our team worked with Allison to hone a compelling message that stayed true to who she is while fitting the unique dynamics of the district.
As we continue in the 2022 cycle, we will learn from these successes and apply those lessons to the general elections and other races. That’s the beauty of special election and early cycle races — they provide concrete data points to further refine our messaging, targeting, and outreach to better inform our 2022 campaigns and beyond!
