Larry O’Brien had a formal response drawn up for when the fundraisers came calling. First, it was a fax, then it was an email, but it always said the same […]
Movers & Shakers: Gail Gitcho
Gail Gitcho is a partner at McKay-Gitcho Strategies, a firm she co-founded with Ken McKay. C&E: You got your start with the late Florida Rep. Clay Shaw. Tell us about […]
Questions surround text-to-donate
Setting up a text-to-donate regime in time for political campaigns to cash in before November looks increasingly like a long shot. The issue is on the agenda for the Federal […]
Shop Talk: Surfing the new digital channels
Our Shoptalkers: Austin James, digital director for CMDI, a Republican finance services platform; Brian Ross Adams, an online branding and social media marketing consultant; Catherine Geanuracos, CEO of New Economy […]
Democrats Get Competition in the Donation Processing Space
NGP VAN has entered the donation processing space, officially launching its service on Wednesday that competes directly with the Democratic fundraising mainstay ActBlue. A release notes that βwith nearly every […]
Obama-style modeling down the ballot
New Jersey pundits called our opponent a shoe-in. Early polling from veteran lawmaker Linda Greenstein’s campaign showed her with a 10-point lead. But microtargeting of voters gave our candidate, Assemblywoman […]
How Knowing Your Online Turf Can Help Stop the Spread of Disinformation
One presidential campaign organizer explains why personally getting to know your turf makes all the difference when it comes to winning votes.
Solving the Ad Saturation Problem
The digital equivalent of having your cake and eating it too could be driving incremental reach without audience over-saturation. The Trade Desk believes that its relatively new partnership with both […]
The campaign industry’s looming intellectual property war
A patent war may be on the horizon as the campaign industry becomes increasingly technological. The once sleepy industry dominated by phones, mail, and TV consultants is now experiencing the […]
New Incubator Aims To Boost Poli-Tech Entrepreneurs
A new incubator wants to help poli-tech startups overcome one of their biggest obstacles: finding funding. But there’s a catch. The companies have to operate exclusively on the left. Partisanship […]
Polling Startup Change Research Shuffles Leadership With an Eye Toward βStandardizingβ Offerings
Incoming CEO Nicole Bare wants to take the Higher Ground Labs backed company from βadolescence into adulthood.β
N.J. Legislative Redistricting Map Approved By Commission
Democrats in the Garden State are claiming victory after their proposed legislative map was approved last week, with a tie-breaking vote cast by the state redistricting commission’s independent member, Rutgers […]
What the Extinction of Non-Competes Could Mean For Your Firm’s Culture
In January 2023, the Biden administration, through the FTC,Β proposedΒ a nationwide ban on non-compete agreements for workers and independent contractors, arguing they stifle worker mobility, suppress wages, and limit competition. This […]
Why Digital Consultants Need to Think Beyond the Platforms
One big thing is true about the campaigns that won in 2020: they connected with their communities, block by block, person to person, even during the pandemic. In this article, read why political campaigns and consultants need to think, and look, beyond online platforms.
Comms Consultants Weigh In On Navigating the Spread of Local News βDesertsβ
The creep of βnews desertsβ across the country is causing communications consultants on both sides to reexamine earned media strategies for campaigns and groups. Following the demise of some 1,800 […]
Engineering a Surprise Dem Victory In the Deep South
It wasn’t embroilment in an old prostitution scandal that derailed David Vitter’s campaign for the Louisiana governor’s mansion. It was a different legal issue. Last February, the senator gave a […]
2017 Rising Stars
Since 1988, Campaigns & Elections has recognized up-and-comers in the campaign business with the coveted Rising Star award. It's one of the most prestigious honors in the campaign world for a reason: industry […]
Call Center Firm Runs Afoul Of Labor Department
A large phone data collection firm was hit with a $550,000 fine this week for allegedly hiring three 13-year-olds to staff its phone banks and for giving too many hours […]
How Eager Are Voters to Reopen America?
How ready are Americanβs to reopen in the face of COVID? Resonateβs data provides some answers.
Anatomy of a Tea Party takedown
Understanding what happened in last year’s Senate contests in Missouri and Indiana starts with two indisputable facts: 1) No political strategist could have predicted that Missouri Rep. Todd Akin (R) […]
Avoiding A Bad Firm Breakup
Breaking up a consulting firm is hard to do. For starters, there’s often no formal agreement governing the divvying of everything from client lists to capital accounts. That’s because the […]
Brace For Impact: FEC Could Ramp Up Audits Going Into β24
The audits could be coming. Not just the targeted ones, or a funnel into the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) program. Full-blow FEC audits that campaigns will need professional assistance to […]
How San Francisco Republicans went extinct
The last Republican holding office in San Francisco, until recently, was James Fang, a 24-year incumbent of the powerful board that oversees the Bay Area’s regional public transit system. Fang […]
Shop Talk: Confessions of a Campaign Manager
This issue’s shoptalkers: Brandon Hall, partner at Kully Hall and manager for Sen. Harry Reid’s 2010 campaign; Mark Harris, partner at Cold Spark media and manager of Sen. Pat Toomey’s […]